Give Us Credit [Hardcover]

Alex Counts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 26, 1996

When Muhammad Yunus returned to his native Bangladesh 25 years ago with an American doctorate in economics, he set out to try and combat the entrenched poverty there. By 1995, his Grameen Bank had made loans totaling $500 million to two million borrowers, mostly women. In spite of the fact that these borrowers were the poorest of the poor, Grameen has had a near-perfect repayment rate.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

When Muhammad Yunus returned to his native Bangladesh 25 years ago with an American doctorate in economics, he set out to try and combat the entrenched poverty there. By 1995, his Grameen Bank had made loans totaling $500 million to two million borrowers, mostly women. In spite of the fact that these borrowers were the poorest of the poor, Grameen has had a near-perfect repayment rate.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 361 pages
• Publisher: Times Books/Random House (March 26, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812924649
• ISBN-13: 978-0812924640
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,603,667 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alex Counts is President and CEO of Grameen Foundation, a nonprofit, Washington, D.C.-based organization that has grown from modest beginnings in 1997 to become a global network of 52 microfinance partners in 22 countries. He trained to be a catalyst for change under Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the founder and Managing Director of the Grameen Bank and corecipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most uplifting and hopeful book I've read in a long time, February 11, 2002

By 

Alison Chaiken "http://www.exercisefortheread... (Mountain View, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Give Us Credit (Hardcover)

Alex Counts vividly tells us the many stories behind the founding and
continuing success of Grameen
Bank, the home of the world micro-lending movement. Micro-lending
is based on the realization that what the poor need to lift them out
of poverty is often not a handout, but a small amount of credit
and some well-organized encouragement. If ever an
approach sounded simplistic and utopian, it's Grameen's. What makes
Grameen worthy of extended consideration is its impressive success,
not only in its base in Pakistan, but in duplicate programs all over
the world.

Counts' book is not a dry economics lesson, but an engrossing history
of Grameen and the leaders who have sacrificed to make it work. He
tells the touching stories of Grameen borrowers both in Pakistan and
in Chicago and relates hows the changes wrought by the tiny amounts of
money made available have rippled through the local society. I found
this book to a great eye-opener; I could never have imagined before
how important a flea market might be to women struggling to become
self-employed, nor could I have imagined how resourceful and creative
the very poor could be in starting their own businesses. Yunus
convinces us that the main problems with povery alleviation programs
often lie not with the supposed indolence of the poor but with the
lack of imagination that donors exhibit.