Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty

Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty Review

It all started with and a goat.

An engaging read into the world of micro-finance and Grameen Bank in Bangladesh that first proved that bottom-of-the-pyramid solutions work when delivered holistically.

Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, goes about breaking down several myths on poverty and the poor. He bemoans that 'national development' is viewed in terms of GDP or income levels, while a more meaningful metric could be the number of people elevated out of poverty. He posits that the poor remain poor not because they are lazy, but because we have erected structures that don't lend to the poor because they have no collateral. He takes exception to governments and donor lending agencies that focus on big-ticket aid projects that do not necessarily benefit the poor. And he forcefully argues that government interventions in social programs result in inefficiencies and nepotism, and that the role of the government lies in creating policies and framework for the growth of 'social-consciousness-driven-enterprises'.

While the flow of the book could have been structured better, the reader is left in no doubt that the pioneering principles of Grameen and its willingness to invert the prevalent lending practices are what have enabled numerous micro-finance movements in several countries. Grameen is profitable - but as Yunus says, "this is not about money. It is about unlocking human dreams and enabling the poorest to achieve dignity, respect and meaning in their lives."

Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty Feature

• ISBN13: 9781586481988
• Condition: New
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Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty Overview

A new edition of the New York Times Bestseller by the Nobel Peace Prize-winner.

This autobiography of Nobel Peace Prizewinner Muhammad Yunus spent ten weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and was also a Wall Street Journal bestseller. Now repackaged in the spirit of his new book, Creating a World Without Poverty, this classic work on the birth of microfinance will contain excerpts from the new book.

Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty Specifications

It began with a simple loan. After witnessing the cycle of poverty that kept many poor women enslaved to high-interest loan sharks in Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus lent money to 42 women so they could purchase bamboo to make and sell stools. In a short time, the women were able to repay the loans while continuing to support themselves and their families. With that initial eye-opening success, the seeds of the Grameen Bank, and the concept of microcredit, were planted.

After earning a Ph.D. in economics at Vanderbilt University, Dr. Yunus returned to Bangladesh to settle into a life as a professor. But a famine in 1974 ravaged the country, leading Dr. Yunus to alter his thinking and his life profoundly: "What good were all my complex theories when people were dying of starvation on the sidewalks and porches across from my lecture hall?.... Nothing in the economic theories I taught reflected the life around me." Armed with little more than a lofty dream to end the suffering around him, he started an experimental microcredit enterprise in 1977; by 1983 the Grameen Bank was officially formed.

The idea behind the Grameen Bank is ingeniously simple: extend credit to poor people and they will help themselves. This concept strikes at the root of poverty by specifically targeting the poorest of the poor, providing small loans (usually less than 0) to those unable to obtain credit from traditional banks. At Grameen, loans are administered to groups of five people, with only two receiving their money up front. As soon as these two make a few regular payments, loans are gradually extended to the rest of the group. In this way, the program builds a sense of community as well as individual self-reliance. Most of the Grameen Bank's loans are to women, and since its inception, there has been an astonishing loan repayment rate of over 98 percent.

Banker to the Poor is an inspiring memoir of the birth of microcredit, written in a conversational tone that makes it both moving and enjoyable to read. The Grameen Bank is now a .5 billion banking enterprise in Bangladesh, while the microcredit model has spread to over 50 countries worldwide, from the U.S. to Papua New Guinea, Norway to Nepal. Ever optimistic, Yunus travels the globe spreading the belief that poverty can be eliminated: "...the poor, once economically empowered, are the most determined fighters in the battle to solve the population problem; end illiteracy; and live healthier, better lives. When policy makers finally realize that the poor are their partners, rather than bystanders or enemies, we will progress much faster that we do today." Dr. Yunus's efforts prove that hope is a global currency. --Shawn Carkonen

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