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3.99 AVERAGE
Great book! I applaud everything described and accomplished, but don’t see it’s application in countries such as as America as being so simple, especially with bankruptcy being an option. I’d love to see further reading on this idea by the author.
Muhammad Yunus came to speak at Microsoft and I was very impressed. I had heard of micro lending but didn’t realize the huge impact it had had on the poor. This book is inspiring. It clearly explains the concepts in a very touching way. I will read more by this novel peace prize winner. The stories of life in Bangladesh were eye opening.
Loved it! Muhammad Yunus is one inspiring man — finding creative, community-based solutions to poverty and inspiring countless others across the world with his grand dreams and practical enterprise. Definitely recommend! So much excellent food for thought for anyone, no matter your particular field or areas of social interest.
How inspiring that such a small thing could have such a large impact on so many lives!
Wonderful and inspiring story, well written to boot!!
I just finished reading "Banker to the Poor" by Muhammad Yunus, and WOW. This book is amazing, inspirational, and eye-opening. I hope everyone reads it.
From the book cover: “In 1983, Muhammad Yunus established Grameen, a bank devoted to providing the poorest of Bangladesh with miniscule loans. Twenty-three years later they won the Nobel Prize for Peace for their work in eradicating poverty. This is an inspiring story of one man’s realization that access to even a small amount of credit can transform the lives of the poorest citizens of the world.”
The key difference between Yunus’ approach and everyone else’s approach isn’t in the policies his bank uses (well, they are very important, but they came about as a result of this): he sees and treats poor people as people first, and as competent, trustworthy, talented people who are survivors. Over and over again he had to deflect opposition from people who believe poor people are lazy, they are too unskilled, they need training, they’ll never pay the money back, they’ll waste the money, and so on. But Yunus knew that the poorest people would realize the chance the micro-loan really was: a chance to save their life, and their children’s lives. Yunus has proven that people do not live in poverty because they are stupid or lazy, they live in poverty because they are trapped there by unfair systems (credit systems, governmental systems, charity). He says Grameen shows that credit is a human right, and “breaks the bondage of collateral.” He has a dream to end poverty worldwide (which Yunus describes as a world in which no one dies of hunger and every person can take care of his or her basic life needs). I think if enough people read this book and take action we will achieve his dream.
Grameen hasn’t stopped at banking…over time as they see the needs, they’ve created many businesses designed to give power and a chance to the poorest people: cell phone companies, fisheries, wholesale/middleman for hand-woven cloth, and others. Grameen has positive effects on the environment: reduced birthrates are a result of the micro-loans to the poorest of the poor and Grameen has been bringing solar power to the villages in Bangladesh to power cell phones through it’s “phone ladies.”
Micro-loans are a powerful tool for women’s liberation (95% of Grameen’s borrowers are women): women in Bangladesh, where Grameen was started, typically never even leave their homes, much less have jobs or interact with men outside of their families. But the women who get micro-loans go on to interact more with people outside their families, they gain their own independence by becoming financially able to care for themselves and their children. Birth rates even decrease after micro-loans! And it isn’t limited to a third-world country in Bangladesh. A few similar programs have been created here in the United States and this is a quote from the book by a woman in Chicago “I never expected that I would ever earn money. My husband never gives me any money to spend. We shop together. He pays. I never had money of my own. For the fifteen years I have lived in America, I have never even had a bank account. Now I have money and I have my own bank account. I have a checkbook. My husband does not know anything about it. I have not dared to tell him yet.” That woman had never really experienced true adulthood until her micro-loan.
These are real loans; each borrower is fully expected to pay back both principal and interest, even after a disaster like a cyclone. Grameen is a for-profit bank. And at the end of the day, the borrowers gain self-confidence, self-esteem, independence, and money—they gain a real life.
Amazing transformative change from a $25 or $600 loan! This is truly revolutionary. Please go to www. GrameenFoundation.org and see what they are doing. Read the book Banker to Poor: Micro-lending and battle against world poverty. Donate $100 (or more!) to the Grameen Foundation today.
From the book cover: “In 1983, Muhammad Yunus established Grameen, a bank devoted to providing the poorest of Bangladesh with miniscule loans. Twenty-three years later they won the Nobel Prize for Peace for their work in eradicating poverty. This is an inspiring story of one man’s realization that access to even a small amount of credit can transform the lives of the poorest citizens of the world.”
The key difference between Yunus’ approach and everyone else’s approach isn’t in the policies his bank uses (well, they are very important, but they came about as a result of this): he sees and treats poor people as people first, and as competent, trustworthy, talented people who are survivors. Over and over again he had to deflect opposition from people who believe poor people are lazy, they are too unskilled, they need training, they’ll never pay the money back, they’ll waste the money, and so on. But Yunus knew that the poorest people would realize the chance the micro-loan really was: a chance to save their life, and their children’s lives. Yunus has proven that people do not live in poverty because they are stupid or lazy, they live in poverty because they are trapped there by unfair systems (credit systems, governmental systems, charity). He says Grameen shows that credit is a human right, and “breaks the bondage of collateral.” He has a dream to end poverty worldwide (which Yunus describes as a world in which no one dies of hunger and every person can take care of his or her basic life needs). I think if enough people read this book and take action we will achieve his dream.
Grameen hasn’t stopped at banking…over time as they see the needs, they’ve created many businesses designed to give power and a chance to the poorest people: cell phone companies, fisheries, wholesale/middleman for hand-woven cloth, and others. Grameen has positive effects on the environment: reduced birthrates are a result of the micro-loans to the poorest of the poor and Grameen has been bringing solar power to the villages in Bangladesh to power cell phones through it’s “phone ladies.”
Micro-loans are a powerful tool for women’s liberation (95% of Grameen’s borrowers are women): women in Bangladesh, where Grameen was started, typically never even leave their homes, much less have jobs or interact with men outside of their families. But the women who get micro-loans go on to interact more with people outside their families, they gain their own independence by becoming financially able to care for themselves and their children. Birth rates even decrease after micro-loans! And it isn’t limited to a third-world country in Bangladesh. A few similar programs have been created here in the United States and this is a quote from the book by a woman in Chicago “I never expected that I would ever earn money. My husband never gives me any money to spend. We shop together. He pays. I never had money of my own. For the fifteen years I have lived in America, I have never even had a bank account. Now I have money and I have my own bank account. I have a checkbook. My husband does not know anything about it. I have not dared to tell him yet.” That woman had never really experienced true adulthood until her micro-loan.
These are real loans; each borrower is fully expected to pay back both principal and interest, even after a disaster like a cyclone. Grameen is a for-profit bank. And at the end of the day, the borrowers gain self-confidence, self-esteem, independence, and money—they gain a real life.
Amazing transformative change from a $25 or $600 loan! This is truly revolutionary. Please go to www. GrameenFoundation.org and see what they are doing. Read the book Banker to Poor: Micro-lending and battle against world poverty. Donate $100 (or more!) to the Grameen Foundation today.
Great story and a great example of how consistent common sense effort can change the world.
This book is good in that it shows what can be accomplished if we change our mindset from profit maximizing. Does not say how one can accomplish, but does present a good case for microcredit.
Muhammad Yunus is quite simply a visionary.
I have known about microcredit for some time but was curious to learn more and was eager to read Professor Yunus's, "Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty".
Within the first few pages, I read the following...
"There are many ways for people to die, but somehow dying of starvation is the most unacceptable of all. It happens in slow motion. Second by second, the distance between life and death becomes smaller and smaller, until the two are in such close proximity that one can hardly tell the difference. Life sleep, death by starvation happens so quietly, so inexorably, one does not even sense it happening. And all for the lack of a handful of rice at each meal."
Professor Yunus was an economist and quite clearly saw a disconnect from his day-to-day life of higher learning and the application on that knowledge...
"If a university is a repository for knowledge, then some of this knowledge should spill over to the neighbouring community. A university must not be an island where academics reach out to the higher and higher levels of knowledge without sharing any of the findings."
"What I did not yet know about hunger, but would find out over the next twenty-two years, was that brilliant theorists of economists do not find it worthwhile to spend time discussing issues of poverty and hunger. They believe that these will be resolved when general economic poverty increases. These economists spend all their talents detailing the processes of development and prosperity, but rarely reflect on the origin and development of poverty and hunger. As a result, poverty continues."
I was quite simply fascinated that Professor Yunus was able to make the leap from discussing economic principles in theory to reaching out and attempting to apply those theories and develop new ones to help the poor in his communities. And the foundation and methodologies that Grameen Bank developed were interesting and quite brave especially since during the early years his ideas surrounding this approach would not have been easily supported.
"..Grameen assumes that every borrower is honest. There are no legal instruments between the lenders and the borrowers. We were convinced that the bank should be built on human trust, not on meaningless paper contracts. Grameen would succeed or fail depending on the strength of personal relationships. We may be accused of being naive, but our experience with bad debt is less than 1 percent."
Many reviewers indicated that Professor Yunus has a bit of a pompous attitude and perhaps he does, but I cannot imagine how I would come across after having to advocate my beliefs over and over and over again and gain support. And given how successful Grameen has become perhaps we can afford him this personality trait.
I am extremely interested in poverty eradication efforts and aid efforts that take place around the world. Reading this book will provide you with a clear understanding of the challenges that faced micro-lending and the success of Grameen. The book is dated now though and there has been a lot of challenges and changes in the micro-lending landscape so I would recommend this book as a jump-off point to further your studies and interests in this area. At times, a slightly exhausting read (it perhaps could have been shortened) but nevertheless, an important read for anyone interested in learning more about this important aspect to lift the world's poor populations up.
I have known about microcredit for some time but was curious to learn more and was eager to read Professor Yunus's, "Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty".
Within the first few pages, I read the following...
"There are many ways for people to die, but somehow dying of starvation is the most unacceptable of all. It happens in slow motion. Second by second, the distance between life and death becomes smaller and smaller, until the two are in such close proximity that one can hardly tell the difference. Life sleep, death by starvation happens so quietly, so inexorably, one does not even sense it happening. And all for the lack of a handful of rice at each meal."
Professor Yunus was an economist and quite clearly saw a disconnect from his day-to-day life of higher learning and the application on that knowledge...
"If a university is a repository for knowledge, then some of this knowledge should spill over to the neighbouring community. A university must not be an island where academics reach out to the higher and higher levels of knowledge without sharing any of the findings."
"What I did not yet know about hunger, but would find out over the next twenty-two years, was that brilliant theorists of economists do not find it worthwhile to spend time discussing issues of poverty and hunger. They believe that these will be resolved when general economic poverty increases. These economists spend all their talents detailing the processes of development and prosperity, but rarely reflect on the origin and development of poverty and hunger. As a result, poverty continues."
I was quite simply fascinated that Professor Yunus was able to make the leap from discussing economic principles in theory to reaching out and attempting to apply those theories and develop new ones to help the poor in his communities. And the foundation and methodologies that Grameen Bank developed were interesting and quite brave especially since during the early years his ideas surrounding this approach would not have been easily supported.
"..Grameen assumes that every borrower is honest. There are no legal instruments between the lenders and the borrowers. We were convinced that the bank should be built on human trust, not on meaningless paper contracts. Grameen would succeed or fail depending on the strength of personal relationships. We may be accused of being naive, but our experience with bad debt is less than 1 percent."
Many reviewers indicated that Professor Yunus has a bit of a pompous attitude and perhaps he does, but I cannot imagine how I would come across after having to advocate my beliefs over and over and over again and gain support. And given how successful Grameen has become perhaps we can afford him this personality trait.
I am extremely interested in poverty eradication efforts and aid efforts that take place around the world. Reading this book will provide you with a clear understanding of the challenges that faced micro-lending and the success of Grameen. The book is dated now though and there has been a lot of challenges and changes in the micro-lending landscape so I would recommend this book as a jump-off point to further your studies and interests in this area. At times, a slightly exhausting read (it perhaps could have been shortened) but nevertheless, an important read for anyone interested in learning more about this important aspect to lift the world's poor populations up.
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced