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skitch41 's review for:
Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty
by Muhammad Yunus
Before reading this book I knew next to nothing about micro-lending. I had heard a little bit about it and how those who received these micro-loans repaid at an astonishingly high rate, but that was all. After reading this book, I may not totally understand how beneficial micro-credit is, but Muhammad Yunus' example and passion makes me believe that micro-credit may be one of the biggest keys to ending poverty in our lifetime. The first half is mostly autobiographical as it follows Mr. Yunus from his time as a child in Bangladesh to his time as a student in the U.S. leading the charge for Bangladeshi independence from Pakistan to his founding of the Grameen Bank. The second half is mostly historical and analytical as it charts Grameen's steady successes and expansions as a bank for the rural poor in Bangladesh to its being used as a model for other micro-credit groups across the globe. Throughout this book Mr. Yunus' compassion for the poor and his strong desire to alleviate poverty completely through such means as micro-credit is evident. Both of these halves combine to make this book both highly readable and highly enjoyable. The only downside to this book is the lack of hard data. Most books I've read that are similar to this include lots of economic data, but few individual examples highlighting the data's real-world applications. This book has the opposite problem. There are a lot of heart-warming examples of young, poverty-stricken women who have been able to provide for themselves and their families through these micro-loans, but there is almost no data about how, or even if, micro-credit has lead to a decline in the poverty rate where micro-credit is widely available. Based on the spread of the Grameen model to other countries praised by Mr. Yunus in this book, I have no doubt that it has helped poverty-stricken people and countries, but some hard data would've been much appreciated. Still this is a fine book and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in international development and/or micro-credit.