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Product Description
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It began with a simple $27 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 $300) 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 $2.5 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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'An amazing account of the way in which one man with a vision and the right values can turn the established order on its ear' - John Elkington, Guardian; 'Not only does it read as swiftly as a thriller, it turns the dreary science of development economics inside out' - --Rosemary Righter, The Times
--This text refers to the
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Chittagong, the largest port in Bangladesh, is a commercial city of 3 million people. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Chittagong, the largest port in Bangladesh, is a commercial city of 3 million people. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Grameen banking is a simple but awesomely powerful concept. As described here in detail, it appears to be an answer to alleviating poverty in a wide number of circumstances. The author and founder, Muhammad Yunus has a fascinating life story both in setting up Grameen and its enterprises, and in his personal and professional life (the section on setting up a government in exile for Bangladesh whilst an academic in Nashville is very well told with the level of passion that marks all he writes). The pen pictures of typical Grameen customers are truly involving, and really illustrate how the concept works in simple human terms.
There is however a problem with this book. It was written in 1997 and published in 1998. It says inside that it was reissued as a paperback in 2003, and the cover of this edition flags the Nobel Prize award in 2006, so this isnt old stock still being sold. There is nothing inside the book more recent than financial forecasts for 1998. As well as reviewing the history of Grameen, the book also has short chapters on Grameen's entry in mobile phones and Internet provision. Just think how the world has changed in these fields since then.
So time for a new revised edition...
There is however a problem with this book. It was written in 1997 and published in 1998. It says inside that it was reissued as a paperback in 2003, and the cover of this edition flags the Nobel Prize award in 2006, so this isnt old stock still being sold. There is nothing inside the book more recent than financial forecasts for 1998. As well as reviewing the history of Grameen, the book also has short chapters on Grameen's entry in mobile phones and Internet provision. Just think how the world has changed in these fields since then.
So time for a new revised edition...
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What can you say about a man who has changed the world for over 2 million people? Not single-handedly, because his bank had 12,000 employees when he wrote this book, and there are other banks now, that follow the same model - but he was the one who started it all.
If you've ever noticed that your bank only wants to give you money if you don't need it - here's how the other kind of bank would look.
He's an egalitarian Muslim, and he does his best thinking with the T.V. on. I've been waiting a long time for a super-hero with respect for the idiot box.
This is a really hopeful book. It doesn't have all the answers, but it has a bunch of fascinating questions to take down the pub with you. Read it, lend it, review it - stick a bookcrossing label in it and give it to your bank manager. Swap it for a Big Issue, mail it to your MP. What are you waiting for?
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What can you say about a man who has changed the world for over 2 million people? Not single-handedly, because his bank had 12,000 employees when he wrote this book, and there are other banks now, that follow the same model - but he was the one who started it all.
If you've ever noticed that your bank only wants to give you money if you don't need it - here's how the other kind of bank would look.
He's an egalitarian Muslim, and he does his best thinking with the T.V. on. I've been waiting a long time for a super-hero with respect for the idiot box.
This is a really hopeful book. It doesn't have all the answers, but it has a bunch of fascinating questions to take down the pub with you. Read it, lend it, review it - stick a bookcrossing label in it and give it to your bank manager. Swap it for a Big Issue, mail it to your MP. What are you waiting for?
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Banker To The Poor - challenging how persistence always brings...
Interested in the story of Mohammad Yunus for a long time and had this book on my wish list. I am so glad that I took the time to order it and read through the challenges, trials... Read more
Published 14 months ago by PBill
The Entrepreneur's story
The Grameen Bank story is well known by now, and you don't need to read this book to get an overview of it. Read more
Published 17 months ago by N. Jensen
inspiring
have heard about Micro Finance since many years. Finally got hold of a book by the father of Micro Finance. Excellent book. Amazing how much this great man has done to humanity. Read more
Published on 21 Dec 2009 by Eva W
Banker To The Poor
A humble account by a remarkable man and his story of creating Grameen Bank; A bank set up to break the poverty cycle Bangladeshis are in thanks to high rates of interest from... Read more
Published on 3 July 2009 by Lindsey Round-Turner
a necessary read
If we are going to shift society somewhat we need to read and act on this man's achievements.Written in an easy to read style giving info on the banking system combined with real... Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2009 by karen bennett
Yunus The Man - Yunus The Myth Buster
This is a fascinating book about a fascinating man. Read though if you want to understand about what made this man great not whether micro loans really are the best way to assist... Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2008 by Barry Phillips
Inspiring, but reality is not that simple
This is the book that made me want to know more about microfinance, I found it very inspiring and Dr Yunus became my personal hero. Read more
Published on 12 July 2007 by F. Hache
Illuminating saga of Nobel-winning microcredit hero
In 1974, while Muhammad Yunus was teaching economics in Bangladesh, the country was ravaged by famine. Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2007 by Rolf Dobelli
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