Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty

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Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty

4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 · rating details · 4,045 ratings · 630 reviews

Banker to the Poor is Muhammad Yunus's inspiring memoir of how he changed his life to establish the Grameen Bank, which provides miniscule loans to help the poor of Bangladesh.

Audio CD, 200 pages

Published February 1st 2007 by Blackstone Audiobooks (first published 1991)

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Aug 01, 2008 nanto rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ekonomi-politik, biografi-dan-memoirs

Baru mulai beberapa hari lalu bacanya dan langsung suka. Ekonomi yang terkenal sebagai "fisikanya ilmu sosial" ditangan Yunus berubah menjadi antropologi ekonomi. Ilmu yang sarat identik dengan asumsi nomethetik sebagai kacamata paradigmatiknya, di tangan Yunus dikemas menjadi sangat ideografis, sarat dengan muatan lokal melalui pendekatan kasuistik dan misi perubahan sosial.

Yah, Pak Yunus dengan sangat rendah hati telah mengubah dirinya dan lingkungan akademisnya untuk mau menjadi mahasiswa di...more

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Apr 18, 2008 Abby rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Muhammad Yunus and I are best friends. (Oops, I had to double check, and I'd spelled "Muhammad" wrong. Sorry, buddy!)

Anyways, me and Mr. Yunus are best friends because once he spoke at the library in Salt Lake City, and when I heard about it I drove down and sat shyly on the back row of the auditorium and clapped really hard for him. Then after it was all over, I saw him just kind of hanging out all alone on the stage, and thought, "Maybe I could go and meet him and we could be best friends!" So...more Muhammad Yunus and I are best friends. (Oops, I had to double check, and I'd spelled "Muhammad" wrong. Sorry, buddy!)

Anyways, me and Mr. Yunus are best friends because once he spoke at the library in Salt Lake City, and when I heard about it I drove down and sat shyly on the back row of the auditorium and clapped really hard for him. Then after it was all over, I saw him just kind of hanging out all alone on the stage, and thought, "Maybe I could go and meet him and we could be best friends!" So I went down and said, "Mr. Muhammad Yunus, I just think you are the greatest guy in the whole world and I love you!!" Then he goes, "Oh, thank you!" and he HUGS ME! I have hugged Mr. Yunus. (Or, I guess, he has hugged me.) That's why we are best friends.

Then, like the next day (or maybe the same day), I went to the Stadium of Fire in Provo, UT, and he was one of the honored people of the Freedom Festival and got an award on stage in front of millions (or thousands) of people! And I yelled "Hey buddy!" and he waved in my general direction. That's the story of our friendship.

So anyways, the reason why he is so cool is this: he is the guy who started the whole idea of micro credit, where he would give very small loans (like, $2) to poor women who would then start their own business, rise above generations and generations of poverty, and save the world. He set up the most amazing programs with groups of women, and has the highest repayment percentage in like, the entire world. His program grows and grows and grows and helps woman and families all over the place. (When the LDS church started up the Perpetual Education Fund, I thought, "HEY! That's totally just like Muhammad's idea. Maybe President Hinckley read his book, too!")

Oh, and it all started in his native Bangladesh. There is some website where you can do micro loans with your own money. My sister sent it to me once after I made her read this book. I invited her to see Muhammad Yunus in SLC, but she declined, and so she is not his friend. But, she might have that website still.

Banker to the Poor is a cool book. Read it. (less)

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Jun 10, 2007 Noah Enelow rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone

Just an amazing story, how an economics professor from Bangladesh, trained in the U.S., goes back to his country to do "nation-building" and finds enormous untapped potential among the poor. Harnesses a stripped-down, modified version of traditional banking to start a bank that eventually gains a client base of over 2 million people. That's nuts! How do you start anything that big? One person at a time, apparently - that's how he did it. At a certain point the book stops being a life story and s...more

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Jun 26, 2012 Frank Sloth Aaskov rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Initially I thought this would be another "development book", but I was quite surprised. Not only is Yunus very market-orientated, but insist on Grameen Bank being a fully commercial.

It was very inspiring to read how easily to give the poorest of the poor a chance by merely giving them monetary credit, and to hear Yunus tell how they found dignity and self-reliance when given an opportunity. The poor do not need training or aid, they only need credit from a bank so they can pool themselves out...more

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Jun 22, 2012 robxyz rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: finished, on, aug, 7, 2009

L'idea di fondo � cos� elementare da apparire quasi banale, la realizzazione del concetto di banca rurale elaborato dall'autore grazie anche alla sua formazione di economista appare tra le righe molto pi� complessa, in virt� del tessuto sociale e delle estreme condizioni di povert� presenti in Bangladesh; l'idea e la determinazione di Muhammad Yunus hanno portato alla rivoluzione del concetto di erogazione del credito, concentrandosi in particolare verso gli strati pi� indigenti della popolazion...more

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Mar 15, 2009 Corinne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: the-nook-book-club

I am amazed by how the author of this book, Muhammad Yunus, has taken the world and attempted to turn it on its head. Banker to the Poor tells the story Yunus's entrance into the world of micro-credit, wherein the poorest of the poor are given small loans without any collateral and with the expectation that the loan will be repaid in full. From his first gut-reaction loan to a person clearly in need, to a multi-national, billion dollar enterprise, Yunus has created an organization whose goals ar...more

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Mar 02, 2009 Leslie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book could not have come at a better time for me to read. It was wonderfully inspiring, in part because Dr. Yunus seems to admit no negativity into his account, besides his tirades against what people should not be doing to solve the world's problems, and in part because I am an aspiring microfinancier. His tendency to look on the bright side, something I have read (I unfortunately cannot remember which blog) is a trait of social entrepreneurs, may cloud his account of the rise of his pet p...more

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Dec 24, 2012 Tyia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I breezed through this book like it was an intense thriller, even though it was filled with economic analysis and the ways our present system inherently works to keep the poor poor. Yunus tells the story of the Grameen Bank from its inception to the present, and with it includes a lot of interesting autobiographical information. His stories about its challenges and the people he is entwined with in the times he lived in are in itself a valuable and unique perspective of history. He is from the e...more I breezed through this book like it was an intense thriller, even though it was filled with economic analysis and the ways our present system inherently works to keep the poor poor. Yunus tells the story of the Grameen Bank from its inception to the present, and with it includes a lot of interesting autobiographical information. His stories about its challenges and the people he is entwined with in the times he lived in are in itself a valuable and unique perspective of history. He is from the educated upper class of Bangladesh, beginning his work around the time of his country's independence from Britain. He played a vital role in building the independence movement as a worldly Bangladeshi academic, traveling all over the world and connecting to a generation of other multinational Bangladeshi of influence. He describes the creative and relentless ways he overcame a deeply classist and sexist culture (where deep religious values rule their daily lives) to help the poorest of the poor.

He describes how he visited the first villages just to offer to borrow money. Even when they refused the money he offers, he would come back until they trusted him to take the money for their needs. He talks about women's stories, and choosing to help them specifically because of how the system sets them up for a lifetime of poverty without the possibility of upward mobility or even the basic necessities to break the cycle of poverty. He believes that all people are trustworthy enough to pay back the credit given to them, especially the poor who the government, NGOs, fellow citizens, do not deem as credit-worthy. The present system works on a belief system of the opposite, claiming that poor people are uncredit-worthy, which makes gaining capital for the poor almost impossible.

He is critical of many NGOs and their work with aiding the poor, seeing how it only helps those who already benefit from the system and farmers who already have capital, and overlooks the poorest of the poor who have no capital and are enslaved for their labor in a spiral that they can never escape from. In a conservative and strict religious country where women are not allowed to talk to men outside of their family, Yunus talks about the many strategies he used to break through the strict ways without disrupting and disrespecting the culture. Many times they had to be convinced to take the money to invest in their crafts and businesses. But because many of the women have never handled money or are allowed to take control in such a way over their lives, they are intimidated, confused, and overwhelmed by the idea of having capital for their needs. Yunus creates a system where the women must create a network with other women to borrow with, so that they are reliant on each others success. His belief is that people are innately in charge of their own lives, able to carve out a living using their own talents, using their own natural entrepreneurial talents, and able to solve their own dilemnas and be agents of change in their own lives. This basic belief he has for the poor has proven to be the underlining tenet of respect that has proven effective in the growth of Grameen Bank, which boasts an extremely high repayment rates. The basic existence of the Grameen Bank with its high repayment rate from the poor refutes and challenges the stereotype and belief about the poor- that they are not willing to work for themselves and that they are greedy and will be irresponsible with money that is given to them if there are no terms or obligations to fulfill.

Grameen Bank is owned by the people and not by the government. Yunus talks about how a private company can work with social consciousness at heart and still make profit, and without the intervention or policing of the government. He describes the many strategies and needs of the bank as being at the whim of its owners- the people it serves. It changes as it needs to, especially in a country where natural disasters are frequent. He comes across much resistance and doubt from the world community who see the effectiveness of Grameen bank unique in its own cultural bubble, even from people who intend to help the poor and for the most part miss them entirely. He blames this on their basic view of the poor- seeing them as unable to use their own abilities to change their lives and being afraid that giving money to the poor without training is ineffective. He argues that many of the poor use their own services, labor, and craftsmanship to be self-employed entrepreneurs, and that the approach of many NGOs deter the very poor away with their unrealistic expectations (which require reading and signing papers and going to classes, which is unrealistic because most are illiterate). Therefore, a lot of their efforts goes to those who already have an "in" and already own land and capital. He spends a lot of the later half of the book talking about how he proves his skeptics wrong by developing other Grameen-like banks throughout other poor areas of the world, using the same basic strategies in Bangladesh.

Yunus also critiques the present ideologies of economics,redefining them to be more effective in breaking the cycles of poverty. The present theories do not have a place for the poorest of the poor. In his work, he creates waves of changes that uplifts countries, serving and literally saving people who would otherwise have no access to a better life. It's an amazing story of real work to better the lives of people, and because he fought to have his strategies used in different areas of the world, he has created a world-wide impact. So I guess it reads like a thriller or science fiction because just like you would be intrigued to read about what you know as fictional aliens beaming down onto earth, I read this book and can't believe that the work of this man in one of the most sexist and poorest countries in the world could make a splash so big from the bottom up. It seems as ficional an alien beaming down onto earth in the science-fiction story.(less)

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Oct 27, 2012 Kariem rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Muhammed Yunus's accomplishments in Microfinance has opened my eyes to the possibility of "Socially-Conscious Capitalism". His advancements in the field, chronicled in this semi-autobiography, have played a profound role in the fight against the poverty and has helped liberate many of the poorest in Bangladesh and around the world from the vicious cycle of slavery that they are trapped in. By means of 'microlending", "microsaving" and other financial services offered the poorest, Muhammed Yunus...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Ari rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012

Lovely book about Dr. Muhammad Yunus, basically the inventor of the micro finance movement. He saw a need in his community and he decided to solve the problem by giving out low-interest rate loans, especially targeting women. Yay! One of the factors I most enjoyed about this book is how Dr. Yunus candidly portrays himself as an academic stumbling along in the real-world trying to figure out how to apply his textbook theories to life. He does (continues to do) a fantastic job. This book is less...more Lovely book about Dr. Muhammad Yunus, basically the inventor of the micro finance movement. He saw a need in his community and he decided to solve the problem by giving out low-interest rate loans, especially targeting women. Yay! One of the factors I most enjoyed about this book is how Dr. Yunus candidly portrays himself as an academic stumbling along in the real-world trying to figure out how to apply his textbook theories to life. He does (continues to do) a fantastic job. This book is less a memoir and more of a story about a man creating and implanting a business plan. He briefly touches on his current personal life, reflects for a bit on his childhood but for the most part this book is solely about the birth of Grameen Bank. He also details how Grammen Bank positively impacts the lives of the poor it lends to. "In 1992, some four hundred Grameen borrowers were elected to union councils, and in 1996, Grameen borrowers led the way to an almost unthinkable feat-more women voted in the national election than men, which helped to nearly wipe out a political party that had taken positions against women's rights out of Parliament. [...] These astonishing results proved to us that once Grameen borrowers grew in self-esteem they would readily express their opinions" (pg. 196) and thus a baby civil society is born!

IQ "All I really wanted was to solve an immediate problem. Out of sheer frustration, I had questioned the most basic banking premise of collateral. I did not know if I was right. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was walking blind and learning as I went along. My work became a struggle to show that the financial untouchables are actually touchable, even huggable. To my great surprise, the repayment of loans by people who borrow without collateral has proven to be much better than those whose borrowings are secured by assets. Indeed, more than 98 percent of our loans are repaid. The poor know that this credit is their only opportunity to break out of poverty. they do not have any cushion whatsoever to fall back on If they fall afoul of this one own, they will have lost their one and only chance to get out of the rut" (pgs. 57-58).

Dr. Yunus makes an interesting point for helping the rural poor before the urban poor (well interesting to me. Most people probably already knew this). He says "If we alleviate suffering in the countryside, that will reduce the pressure on the poor to rush to Dhaka and clog the streets" (pg. 94), Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh. We definitely tend to neglect the rural poor, especially in America. Another new-to-me fact I learned was about the inefficiency of foreign aid. "Most foreign aid goes to building roads, bridges and so forth, which are supposed to help the poor 'in the long run'. The only people really benefiting from most of this aid, however, are those who are already wealth. Foreign aid becomes a kind of charity for the powerful while the poor get poorer. If aid is to have some impact on the lies of the destitute, it must be rerouted so that it reaches pro households more directly. I believe that a new aid methodology has be to be designed with new objectives. In fact, the direct elimination of poverty should be the objective of all development aid. Development should be viewed as a human rights issue, not as a question of simply increasing the gross national product (GP). When the national economy picks up, the situation of the poor is not necessarily improved. Therefore development should be redefined. IT should refer only to a positive measurable change in per capita income of the bottom 50 percent of the population" (pg. 146), whew. I completely agree! Western governments really need to reevaluate their foreign aid budgets and work on educating the public about how much money is really needed to be effective (and where this money should go) especially in these trying economic times.

I hope the issues around micro finance continue to be investigated and the things are straightened out, there should be no intimidation of people in extreme poverty simply because they fall behind on their loan payments. Then micro finance begins to resemble the horrid moneylenders.(less)

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Apr 05, 2012 Saleha rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It is no secret that Muhammad Yunus, head professor of Economics at Chittagong University, shook the world with his innovative and breakthrough theories on micro-financial lending. Founder of the successful banking institution the Grameen Foundation, Yunus became responsible for bringing much needed attention to the dire state of poverty in his native of Bangladesh.

However, the accomplishments which he writes about in his autobiography, Banker to the Poor, were certainly not met without difficul...more It is no secret that Muhammad Yunus, head professor of Economics at Chittagong University, shook the world with his innovative and breakthrough theories on micro-financial lending. Founder of the successful banking institution the Grameen Foundation, Yunus became responsible for bringing much needed attention to the dire state of poverty in his native of Bangladesh.

However, the accomplishments which he writes about in his autobiography, Banker to the Poor, were certainly not met without difficulty. In fact, Yunus’s original inspiration behind tackling poverty was a natural progression derived from his many life experiences. Together, the events discussed in his book illustrate an intriguing account of the life of a simple man’s journey, and his dream becoming a reality through relentless effort and dedication.

Yunus’s literary work easily trumps the average written biography we are used to seeing in bookstores and libraries. Banker to the Poor offers readers an exciting journey alongside Yunus in his adventures from being a young boy caught in the whirlwind of a revolutionary era, to an intelligent young student with exceptional academic skills and active participation in politics and government. Born in South Central Bangladesh, Yunus was raised under his parent’s strong beliefs of educational achievement and religious spirituality. Being the third of fourteen children (with the exception of five whom passed away during infancy), Yunus was brought up from humble beginnings living in the second floor of his father’s jewelry workshop.

Banker to the Poor can be categorized into two parts. It first begins with an intimate account of Yunus’s personal life as a curious child growing up amidst the chaos of the Second World War, the Pakistan Movement, along with the Bengali War of Liberation. Unique to his story are the events which will surround and affect his childhood, adolescent and adulthood life. His insatiable need for the advancement of his educational background brings light to the countless unique positions he acquires throughout the book. This includes teaching positions, international scholarships, along with several leadership responsibilities during the Bengali road to independence. Yunus’s ever changing environments eventually lead to the second half of the book, which tells a riveting tale of the inspiration and lengthy process behind the birth of the micro-financial lending system that is Grameen.

Upon his early years as head of the Economic department at Chittagong University, Yunus sought practical ways of implementing his teachings to bring about positive change to the poor and destitute. However, through the author’s narration readers will quickly discover the societal barriers placed upon those less fortunate, thus isolating them from participating in the banking system. Not only is poverty one of the most definable aspects of life in Bangladesh, it is also virtually impossible for poor families to exit their current state of living, simply because they are unable to obtain financial loans or credit. The Grameen Foundation was first established by Yunus to counter-act these issues through unique methods described in his book. After years of experimenting and trials of implementation, it soon launched as the first international organization of its kind with profound success behind the specific cause.

If you are looking to get back into the habit of reading, or if you are on the search for a worthy read, I strongly recommend this book. Issues not only within Bangladesh, the ideas behind Grameen were a result of the global characteristics of poverty which the author observed within much of his country’s geography. Furthermore, a critical analysis into the life choices and decisions of Yunus will uncover his helpful nature and consistent drive to assist people by providing them with the proper resources to build improved livelihoods and remove them from the cycle of poverty. We are individually blessed with unique life experiences, but this book will offer the inspiration to make the most out of them.

Approximately seven years after the publication of Banker to the Poor, Yunus went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Years into the international legacy of the Grameen Foundation has shed an innovative perspective on the stigma of credit loaning to individuals in poverty-stricken areas of the world. (less)

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Mar 24, 2012 Rajesh Israni rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Banker to the Poor" is an astonishing story of how a man with a vision, strong values and tremendous patience could change the status-quo and how he established a completely new and revolutionary institution of Micro Credit in the form of his Grameen Bank.

Basically, micro-lending is when a person or organization lends a very small amount of money to a poor person. Then that poor person uses that loan to start a business in hopes that the business will pull them out of poverty. As it ends up, mi...more "Banker to the Poor" is an astonishing story of how a man with a vision, strong values and tremendous patience could change the status-quo and how he established a completely new and revolutionary institution of Micro Credit in the form of his Grameen Bank.

Basically, micro-lending is when a person or organization lends a very small amount of money to a poor person. Then that poor person uses that loan to start a business in hopes that the business will pull them out of poverty. As it ends up, micro-lending is extremely effective. Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle against World Poverty by Muhammad Yunus is an autobiography and the story of how Grameen Bank got its start. Grameen Bank was the first organization to experiment micro-lending as a vehicle to end poverty.

In very poor areas of the world, like Bangladesh, where this book takes place, it is very difficult to get out of debt and make it to a cycle of self-sustainability. Loans are available to people by local "lenders", but they generally charge extreme interest rates making it nearly impossible to be relieved of a poverty stricken life. That's where Grameen comes in.
They offer the villagers loans at 20% interest with no collateral or previous credit. They also do not require the borrowers to pay back at any particular time. Of course, they set up a program for the borrowers to follow, and if they do not repay the loans at all, they can't borrow again. But Grameen boasts over a 98% repayment rate, which is outstanding.

These loans allow for the villagers to start their own businesses doing what they already know how to do. They weave baskets, make food, etc. These loans allow the borrowers to purchase raw materials and make a profit and repay the loan. There are plenty of success stories where people have broken the poverty cycle and now live self sustained and flourishing lives.

One interesting aspect of Grameen Bank is that they lend predominantly to women. This causes some issues in these poor villages because women are not generally considered worthy of handling money or running businesses. They are pretty much second class citizens. But what Grameen found out was that lending to women had a much larger impact than when they lent to men. Yunus said that when a man would make extra money he would spend it on himself. But a woman would spend the money on her family or housing improvements.

If you are interested in reading more about micro-lending read this book. As a reader, it was amazing to note that throughout the book, Yunus has never left a single opportunity to acknowledge the efforts and support of his colleagues and members of Grameen in the whole journey of Grameen Bank. If we look at the book from the point of view of Leadership and Entrepreneurship, it definitely offers various lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs. One of the very important lessons to be learned from Yunus story is that a "entrepreneur" always keeps on questioning the status-quo to come with a promising idea.

He has to try out endless number of experiments before finally arriving at the best way to implement his idea and thus we should keep in mind that there are no shortcuts to such experimentation. We should also learn from Yunus that when we face social resistance in implementing any idea- what we should have in plenty is patience! Lastly, we should be courageous enough to recognize our mistakes and wise enough to learn from them.

To give a concluding comment on the book, our group felt that thought the book is written in a very narrative style and the story telling manner actually makes it very interesting to read but for an entrepreneur or manager who would like to learn a few things from Yunus about how he handled the various technicalities and how he took the strategic decisions at various points of time during the journey of Grameen Bank, the book does not provide much inputs in this regard. Yunus has definitely touched upon these things but probably he has not dealt with them in detail.

The book is actually Yunus' life story and how he came to start Grameen Bank. Yunus is a fascinating person, and by creating the micro-lending culture, he has done more to alleviate world poverty than all the governments combined. Yunus is a visionary and passionate leader, whose efforts, patience and humility got appreciated when he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006." (less)

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May 31, 2011 Asri Wijayanti rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A must-read for anyone working in development field. It is loaded with thought-provoking facts and motivation to work on something that will really be useful for what so-called grassroot communities. His explorations reveals important facts on who are "the poor", what they need, how they are at the face of conventional economics, and the breakthrough in cutting the circle of poverty.

His questions on how academic world can give real impacts to the community is the question that remains in many p...more

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Apr 12, 2011 Donovan Richards rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

How to Eliminate Poverty

This weekend I attended the Bottom Billions | Bottom Line Conference hosted by Seattle Pacific University’s Center for Integrity in Business. The event served as a convergence zone between business, nonprofit organizations, and the academy seeking to better understand ways that business can help alleviate world poverty.

Of the many interesting subjects discussed at the conference, the topic of microfinance seemed to continuously echo through my head. For those unfamiliar w...more

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Feb 27, 2011 Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-audio-books, 2011-nonfiction

Banker to the Poor: micro lending and the battle against poverty, by Muhammad Yunus, narrated by Ray Porter, produced by Blackstone Audio, downloaded from audible.com.

Professor Yunus was an economics professor teaching at a university in what is now known as Bangladesh. In the late ‘70’s, he came to the conclusion that his students needed more hands-on experience in the economics of being poor. He discovered that the very poorest people, mostly women, could never get beyond being poor because no...more

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Jan 11, 2011 Suzy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I knew what micro-lending was before reading this book, but was not really aware that Mohammed Yunus started it. I was particularly interested to read that, to him, the "founder" of micro-lending, the intent of the micro-lender (to enable the poor to raise themselves up) is essential to the definition. Thus various imitators do not pass muster with him. At several points, I found myself thinking of direct comparisons to the program I work for, in which we train low income people to do office wor...more

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Dec 23, 2010 Sarah (Workaday Reads) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010

I didn't realize it was a biography when I picked it up; I apparently never looked at the spine where my local library had placed a biography sticker. I don't usually read biographies, but I found this book very interesting. I was particularly intrigued by the first half of the book, the very beginning of the creation of the Grameen Bank.

The later half of the book was harder to follow as related, child and parent companies were founded and explained. I skipped a few overly detailed paragraphs as...more

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Aug 28, 2010 Christine rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-and-ya

This book provides an informative overview of Grameen Bank and micro-lending, but I think that its argument in favor of micro-lending would be stronger if Yunus spent more time addressing the arguments of critics. Although some criticisms are mentioned briefly, Yunus brushes them off quickly. As one example, I think that Yunus far too quickly rejects the arguments that poor people living in the developed world could benefit from micro-lending in the same ways as the poor of Bangladesh. I think t...more

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Sep 06, 2009 Gabe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In ‘Banker to the Poor’ Muhammad Yunus tells the inspiring story of how he has helped hundreds of thousands of people lift themselves out of poverty by establishing the Grameen Bank. Grameen lends micro-credit (very small loans) to the poorest of the poor without requiring collateral. In lieu of collateral, Grameen requires that its borrowers adhere to a strict set of rules. Yunus explains that these rules help borrowers develop the personal confidence and community infrastructure they need to s...more

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Aug 27, 2009 Gwenyth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: global-health

I picked this up because I was interested in learning a little more about Grameen bank, which as I understand it is pretty much the granddaddy of micro-credit organizations. I very much enjoyed the book. It's divided into about four parts: a quick autobiography of Yunus, a quick history of how Grameen got started and its principles, some criticism of some current (actually now somewhat dated) movements in global development, and a summary of Yunus's vision of social entrepreneurship.

I always fin...more

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Aug 24, 2009 Diah Ayu rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ekosospol, foreign, non-fiction, terjemahan

sebenernya ragu2 sih, apakah benar buku ini yang kemaren kubaca. soalnya yang aku baca versi terjemahannya, jd gak yakin judul aslinya apa. tapi tak apalah, anggap saja memang buku ini, hehe.

buku ini membosankan, meskipun sebenernya pemikirannya bagus. entah karena stamina membacaku uda gak setangguh dulu, atau karena aku pribadi uda kebiasaan baca buku2 terbitannya resist ato insist, jadinya buku ini berasa kurang 'emosional', hahaha.

kerennya pemikiran Muhammad Yunus adalah karena dia tidak ber...more

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Jun 24, 2009 Sara Jaye rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was definitely way more readable than I was expecting - Yunus follows a very clear narrative and doesn't include, for example, details of his personal life that aren't relevant.

Overall, it didn't leave me too much less ambivalent about microcredit than when I started. Obviously Yunus is dedicated to helping people in poverty help themselves and Grameen has helped many Bengalis make positive changes in their own lives. However, he addresses criticisms directly but only very briefly - t...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Connie added it · review of another edition

What Yunus has done with micro-lending through the Grameen Bank is impressive and intriguing. The best part of the book were the initial autobiographical chapters. Once Yunus gets into economics and theory things slow down a lot and seemed to be rather dry, in my opinion. I didn't find this book easy to read, and Yunus' final two chapters in which he expounds on his vision of a poverty-free world are interesting, yet I couldn't help feel a bit skeptical. Will the world ever change sufficiently t...more

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May 11, 2009 Scott rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: money, 2000s

Muhammad Yunus, a social entrepreneur who wants to share the rewards of the free market with the poorest of the poor, dreams of eradicating poverty from the entire world by 2050. The tools he has chosen to accomplish his goal come straight from the capitalist's workbench: credit, competition, the drive for profit, and the elimination of the middleman. What sets Yunus apart from most capitalists, though, is that he measures his success not by how much he's able to grow his portfolio, but rather b...more Muhammad Yunus, a social entrepreneur who wants to share the rewards of the free market with the poorest of the poor, dreams of eradicating poverty from the entire world by 2050. The tools he has chosen to accomplish his goal come straight from the capitalist's workbench: credit, competition, the drive for profit, and the elimination of the middleman. What sets Yunus apart from most capitalists, though, is that he measures his success not by how much he's able to grow his portfolio, but rather by how many poor women he is able to extend credit to.

His rate of success, judged by the growth of his bank and the rate of loan repayment (98%), is phenomenal, and the number of lives he has touched and helped to improve astonished me. The case studies were quite moving and the overall success of his methods, both in Bangladesh and throughout most of the world, was inspiring.

But I'm a little doubtful about Yunus's goal to eradicate poverty: in much of the world the causes of extreme poverty stem not from a lack of credit or market opportunities, but from various addictions and mental illnesses, which no amount of microlending will cure. I was disappointed, too, to see Yunus define poverty along gender lines. He argues that credit is a fundamental right, but in practice he extends this right almost exclusively to women. By 2050 he and his organizations may well be able to benefit most of the world's poorest women; he seems to have given little thought to what causes poverty among men. Most of the women Yunus presents to us were in some way forced into absolute poverty by the men in their lives: fathers, husbands or husbands' families. Until we understand how poor men make economic decisions and how to correct their sometimes destructive attitudes and actions, we've got only half of the problem solved. Microlending by itself can at best be only a chronic solution ... it will take far deeper societal changes to eliminate the attitudes that create and foster profound poverty.(less)

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Apr 02, 2009 Adrienne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-count-09, non-fiction

Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunus was a more interesting book, and a faster read for me. Yunus, an economics professor in Bangladesh, got the idea to lend small amounts of money to the very poorest people in his country, which would allow them to buy food and materials for setting up their own business. Yunus first started issuing microloans in the late ’70s; today, his Grameen bank is the largest in Bangladesh, and has inspired other microloan enterprises throughout the world. Most important...more

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May 24, 2012 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, biographies

Less of a "how-to" and more of a story, this book tells how Muhammad Yunus caught the vision and then designed a scaleable method for micro lending, first in Bangladesh and then in other parts of the word. The story is inspiring on several levels: 1) Clearly an underdog story. Yunus had to fight through lots of opposition--especially from the established finance industry--to launch [and sustain] Grameen Bank. 2) By targeting women, Yunus moved into a new, and some would say, "risky" market. He d...more

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Sep 21, 2011 Jay rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: business, audiobook

This book covers the origination and growth of Grameen Bank, a bank for the poor that focuses on microlending -- lending small amounts to the poor. The stories of Grameen Bank's borrowers are of course full of human interest. As an American, I tend to root for the underdog, and these borrowers's stories show these underdogs doing well - using their borrowed capital to generate income. This book has a lot of these stories, but also many stories of political battles, market philosophy, personal hi...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Albyvintage rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: economia

micro imprenditoria, profitto per garantirsi cuscinetti iniziative benefiche per i soci queste le armi, mutualità nella sanità
Pag 7 dopo indipendenza il Bangladesh ha ricevuto 30 miliardi di aiuti internazionali il 40% della popolazione non arriva al bisogno minimo giornaliero
Pag 9 la mia esperienza in seno a Grameen mi ha infuso una fede incrollabile nella creatività umana . Grameen mi ha insegnato due cose 1° la nostra conoscenza delle persone e dei modi con cui queste interagiscono è ancora...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Lauren Edlund rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Banker to the Poor is great introduction to mircofinance. However, the efficacy of the Grameen Bank and others like it has been called into question in recent years. Thus, the reader should not take Yunus' depiction as the whole truth, and instead use it as a starting point.

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Jul 27, 2011 Julianne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

I expected a book about finance--even paradigm-shattering micro-finance in Bangladesh--to be at least a little bit boring. But this book really wasn't. At all. Yunus's writing is incredibly accessible, even exciting. He seems never to have sat still for any length of time in his life, and this dynamism extends to his descriptions of economic concepts. One quote I found particularly characteristic and convicting occurs on p. 206: "We can condemn the private sector for all its mistakes, but we can...more

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About Muhammad Yunus

Dr. Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi banker and economist. He previously was a professor of economics and is famous for his successful application of microcredit--the extension of small loans given to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. Dr. Yunus is also the founder of Grameen Bank. In 2006, Yunus and the bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts t...more

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Ma'aikacin Banki Don Talakawa: Tarihin Muhammad Yunus, Wanda YA Kirkiro Bankin Grameen

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Quotes from Banker to the Poor: Mi...

“When we want to help the poor, we usually offer them charity. Most often we use charity to avoid recognizing the problem and finding the solution for it. Charity becomes a way to shrug off our responsibility. But charity is no solution to poverty. Charity only perpetuates poverty by taking the initiative away from the poor. Charity allows us to go ahead with our own lives without worrying about the lives of the poor. Charity appeases our consciences.” — 60 people liked it

“If you go out into the real world, you cannot miss seeing that the poor are poor not because they are untrained or illiterate but because they cannot retain the returns of their labor. They have no control over capital, and it is the ability to control capital that gives people the power to rise out of poverty.” — 27 people liked it

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Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty

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