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The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank
The Price of a Dream tells the remarkable story of the Grameen Bank, the groundbreaking "village bank" that has revolutionized the way people around the world fight poverty. The Bank's model--providing collateral-free "micro-loans" for self-employment to millions of women villagers in Bangladesh--has inspired and shaped the thinking of economists, policy makers, business p...more
Paperback, 370 pages
Published
September 1st 2005
by Oxford University Press
(first published 1996)
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A charming journalistic account of the origins and character of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Although it verges on the panegyric (as so many popular accounts of Grameen do) it nonetheless gives an interesting picture to the type of aid work - and bootstrap mentality - that Grameen does, notably by providing money but also through the support network of the borrowing centers and the savings requirements imposed on the members. There were also trenchant comments on the backhanded character of m
...more
Finally finished this piece after being postponed reading it for almost two years. David Bornstein is a real story teller imo,- he eloquently captures the journey of Grameen Bank from time to time in different decades and smartly showcases what challenges and opportunities that came up in every cycle of Grameen's lives. For those who wants to learn the concept of social entrepreneurs in practice,- I will absolutely recommend this book.
This is just a great book. It focuses on the people involved in the start of the Grameen Bank and it becomes very obvious while there may have been a mastermind in Muhammad Yunus there were a lot of bright men & women involved in creating this wonder, and not "experts brought in from first world countries" but local people with various levels of education willing to give their all to make it work and help their people improve themselves.
It's interesting how the story can support both a conse...more
It's interesting how the story can support both a conse...more
Yunus got a Nobel Peace Prize. Tremendous human and business story. "Business" in that the number dimensions or issues to be solved and integrated and designed into a solution is awe inspiring. "Human" in the scale of affect he has had on peoples' lives.
Sep 25, 2007
Manderson
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in assisting the poor
Shelves:
non-fiction
A well-written look into the creation and daily operations of the pioneering microcredit Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, which has not only served to directly assist thousands of poor villagers, but also to demonstrate that assisting the poor can be a sustainable capitalist enterprise. Lots of good ideas from Muhammad Yunus, the founder, here, as well as direct insight into the villager's lives and the impact the Grameen Bank has had on them.
This is slow at times, and I have been reading it off and on for the past year. It started strong but the challenges of a large bank in the story are not as gripping as how it began in the roots.
Microlending took 12 years to perfect until it got out of the equivalent of a state in Bangledash.
The author got a little politically preachy toward the end...whatever happened to objective writing?
Microlending took 12 years to perfect until it got out of the equivalent of a state in Bangledash.
The author got a little politically preachy toward the end...whatever happened to objective writing?
So inspiring! One person, one bold idea, and the lives of millions are improved!
I loved the idea of "socially conscious capitalism."!
I loved the idea of "socially conscious capitalism."!
I teach this book and it is a gem. David Bornstein spent 5 years in Bangladesh researching the beginnings and progress of the Grameen Bank, the world's most successful microenterprise organization, that lends small amounts of money to poor women and has helped millions emerge from poverty. David is a friend and a very gifted writer. Read just the first chapter - you will be hooked!
Someone suggested this book to me and I really enjoyed it. What an inspiring story of how one person can help many! It also spoke about how "common wisdom or practice" may in fact be a part of the problem, not the solution. I also learned a lot about Bangladesh, a country which I knew little about.
The Grameen Bank is an amazing project to learn about. This book not only explores the mission and operations of Grameen, but in a way that keeps you turning the pages and enjoying the book for the great work of non-fiction writing that it is.
An interesting balance of personal stories and organizational history. The bank has been around for ages now, but for some reason I didn't know a lot about it. A quick enjoyable read.
Great story of helping people from the bottom up. It's an easy read considering there's a lot of talk about banking and economics in it. Mostly it's about the people, though.
Nov 20, 2007
Lakipadada
added it
buku ini sangat keren untuk kondisi bangsa indonesia saat ini...
Very good history of the first microcredit institution.
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