A review by osmosis
Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty by Muhammad Yunus

3.0

Banker to the poor is a history of the micro-lending projects that Mohammad Yunus devised in the 1970s. I was really interested by the concept of micro-lending as a means of enabling the poor and giving them a small financial platform from which they start a small business. It made me realise that this form of aid might be more effective than handouts and contributions made through large and bureaucratic organisations.

Talking of large and bureaucratic organisations, my favourite page of the book was the Yunus' reply to the question "what would he do if he became president of the world bank?". Don't want to spoil it but it's on p.147.

Though I greatly admire Yunus for his work to reduce poverty, I think the book is slightly repetitious and could have been much shorter. The chapters roll along from micro-lending in a small area of Bangladesh to micro-lending in a medium sized area of Bangladesh to micro-lending in a large area of Bangladesh etc. It seemed somewhat superfluous. Having said that, I'm sure many readers want as much detail as possible and want to see how the projects developed.

On a final note, Yunus has influenced me to think about how to donate money in the future and I appreciate that insight.