Banker to the Poor: Summary and book reviews of Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunus, plus links to an excerpt from Banker to the Poor and a biography of Muhammad Yunus.
Banker to the Poor Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty
by Muhammad Yunus
Hardcover: Jun 1999,
258 pages.
Paperback: Oct 2003,
288 pages.
This autobiography of the world-renowned, visionary economist who came up with a simple but revolutionary solution to end world poverty - micro-credit
In 1983 Muhammad Yunus established Grameen, a bank devoted to providing the poorest of Bangladesh with miniscule loans. He aimed to help the poor by supporting the spark of personal initiative and enterprise by which they could lift themselves out of poverty forever. It was an idea born on a day in 1976 when he loaned $27 from his own pocket to forty-two people living in a tiny village. They were stool makers who only needed enough credit to purchase the raw materials for their trade. Yunus's loan helped them break the cycle of poverty and changed their lives forever. His solution to world poverty, founded on the belief that credit is a fundamental human right, is brilliantly simple: loan poor people money on terms that are suitable to them, teach them a few sound financial principles, and they will help themselves.
Yunus's theories work. Grameen Bank has provided 3.8 billion dollars to 2.4 million families in rural Bangladesh. Today, more than 250 institutions in nearly 100 countries operate micro-credit programs based on the Grameen methodology, placing Grameen at the forefront of a burgeoning world movement toward eradicating poverty through micro-lending.
If most of us were asked to name the person most famous for helping the poor people of the Indian subcontinent, we would probably reply Mahatma Gandhi; but if you walked into many a village in Bangladesh today and asked the same question, the answer would be Muhammed Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank. (Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).
Kliatt
His incredible story is told in a simple, straightforward manner; no need to understand complicated economic theory to appreciate this book. It is a story of reaching out and improving the lives of poor people and proof that socially conscious-driven businesses can succeed.
Library Journal
This program has empowered thousands of people - many of them women - and surprised experts in economic development who never believed that the very poor would find the initiative and ability to repay even the smallest ($25-$500) loans. Definitely recommended.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Phearun Kuch Idea from student from a developing country After hearing the title of the book from a friends of my. I remembered the name of the book straight away "Banker to the Poor"
It is a very interesting book with clear and easy to understand message. It is so important for us all as... Read More
Rated of 5
by Velma War Against Poverty It sounded so simple I wondered that no one had ever tried it before. Then I remembered big business and the lending companies that I had personal experience with. No, they would never do this even if it occurred to them. There isn't enough... Read More
Bangladesh: In 1947 the Partition of India caused the formation of East
and West Pakistan (separated by a distance of about 1,000 miles). Although
the two regions shared a common religion (Islam) large ethnic and linguistic
differences existed which in 1971, following the Bangladesh Liberation War, led
to the formation of Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) as a country separate from both India and
Pakistan. It is the third largest Muslim-majority nation, and one of the
most densely populated countries in the world; about 147 million people live
in an area about the size of Iowa, with about a third of the land prone to
flooding each year. The infant mortality rate is 61 out of every 1,000
live births, the literacy rate is 43% and the gross domestic product equivalent to
USA $2,100 per capita.
From the Grameen Bank website: Grameencredit is based on the premise that the poor
have skills which remain unutilised or under-utilised. It is definitely not the
lack of skills which make poor people poor. Grameen believes...
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