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Banker to the Poor: The Story of the Grameen Bank
 
 
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Banker to the Poor: The Story of the Grameen Bank [Import] [Paperback]

Mohammad Yunus (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (104 customer reviews) |

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Product Details

  • Paperback: 338 pages
  • Publisher: Aurum Press Ltd; New Ed edition (2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1854109243
  • ISBN-13: 978-1854109248
  • Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (104 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,193,716 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Muhammad Yunus
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
56 of 57 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
In the 1970s Professor Mohammed Yunus had a great idea on how to help the poor of Bangladesh and he made it work. He invented micro-credit, or lending very small amounts to the poorest of the poor, without asking for collateral. This, rather than simple handouts, would help the poor become self-reliant enough so that they could lift themselves out of poverty. He concentrated on women. He relied on peer support to motivate repayment of the loans by making loans to one member of a group of women who would have access to credit only if the entire group had a good credit record (when a group started, they were assumed to have good credit). Professor Yunus's organization, the Grameen Bank, is a cooperative owned mostly by its members and boasts a repayment rate over 98%.

In the 30 years since Professor Yunus's first loan of 27 dollars, Grameen has now lent out billions to millions. It has liberated women in small villages, it has brought capitalist market mechanisms to the economic bottom 2% of the world population.

This first hand account by the American-educated Bangledeshi founder of Grameen Bank might not win any literary prize and it might end with a (I think) slightly naive vision of social work, but it effectively presents a simple story about a practical man who has made millions of the world's poorest people significantly better off.
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33 of 33 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
If you know the story of Grameen Bank, and wanted to know more about the founder - I don't need to say anymore.

If you haven't heard of Grameen, prepare yourself to learn about a bank which has overturned the conventional wisdom about helping people who live in poverty.

Yunus' big idea can be put very simply: people who live on less than $1 per day (3 billion people) don't need to be tought how to feed themselves and survive - the very fact that they are alive is testament to their abilities.

His approach rests upon that faith in people's ability to help themselves, if given access to the very small amounts of loan capital they need to start a profitable venture - whether that is weaving cloth or repairing bicycles.

The road to reaching more than 2 million people in Bangladesh, and many other millions worldwide, wasn't smooth. What you get from reading this book is a sense that sometimes the 'homegrown' solution beats the 'imposed' ideas from the developed world.

A challenging book for liberals and conservatives alike!

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40 of 43 people found the following review helpful
By Ted
Format:Paperback
The story of the Grameen bank is an excellent example of how social change initiatives can be combined with government and private industry support to acheive a greater outcome than the organization could acheive by itself. Yunus provides an excellent chronicle of his bank's formation as well as explaining its principles. Highly recommended for anyone interested in social entrepreneurship or social change. The only shortcomings are: 1) as a finance person, I would like to have read more about the operational side of the banks relative to their commercial competitors - what specific factors enabled them to be so successful (other than the broad social factors he identifies)? 2) Need more information about how these types of programs can be applied to industrialized nations such as the US.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Micro is huge!
Well done professor! We need more people helping the poorest people by helping them to invest in their own future, and encouraging them to have some skin in the game! Read more
Published 10 days ago by L.S.
Intriguing solution, biographical makes it an easier read
This is one of the most "human" economics books I've read - short on numbers, big on story, revolving around the central concept that human beings, when given the opportunity and... Read more
Published 2 months ago by J. Loscheider
Very pleased!
I was very pleased with the condition of my book. The cover and pages were all in tact and clean. Shipment was prompt. It was exactly what I wanted, the way I wanted it. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ladazaka
Biography of an ingenious startup
The concept of micro-credit introduced a sustainable solution to resolving world poverty. As this book was written over a decade ago, I am curious as to how its ambitious mission... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Khayzuran
A positively revolutionary perspective on capitalism
This is a fascinating book. It represents a wonderfully radical view of a company's role in society. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Michael A. Lazarus
35 forever
Everyone should read this book and apply this message to daily living. We all need to play it forward and help one another always.
Published 9 months ago by 35 forever
Excellent Reading
An excellent book. Muhammad Yunus is the founder of Grameen Bank, the bank that revolutionized the approach to helping the poor, offering small loans to poor people in need to... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Will Jerom
WHAT A MIND OPENER
I have always been interested in micro-credit. Never took the time to get into the topic until I found "Banker to the Poor". I could not put this book down. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Thomas S. Peyton
Lacks cohesive subject and audience
I picked up this book hoping to find an interesting story that would also teach me a solid background in microlending. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Bears
The Making of a Nobel Peace Prize
How did Muhammad Yunus become what he now represents for millions of people across the world: a global icon of the poor, the staunchest advocate of microfinance and social... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Etienne ROLLAND-PIEGUE
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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First Sentence:
Chittagong, the largest port in Bangladesh, is a commercial city of 3 million people. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
jobra village, five taka, female bank workers, deep tubewell, replication programs, women borrowers, telephone lady, bamboo stools, fisheries ministry
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, World Bank, Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Trust, Third World, Grameen Check, Chittagong University, East Pakistan, Finance Ministry, Enayet Karim, New York, People's Fund, Professor Yunus, Project Dungganon, Agriculture Bank, Ammajan Amina, Boxirhat Road, Good Faith Fund, Three Share Farm, Abul Fazal, Boy Scout, Capitol Hill, Chittagong District, Expanding Beyond Jobra, Hillary Rodham Clinton
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