In the last two decades, free markets have swept the globe, bringing with them enormous potential for positive change. But traditional capitalism...
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reviews
Jun 08, 2008
Real Supergirl
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Excellent book. Yunus is an inspiring man. I know nothing about economics yet I was able to understand this book, and it has helped me clarify for myself what kind of business I would like to run someday - a social business.
Basically, it presents a new model for social services - building organizations that do good work without relying on grants that may or may not be there from year to year, and which have as their chief goal to become self-sustaining. Their goal is to make mon More...
Basically, it presents a new model for social services - building organizations that do good work without relying on grants that may or may not be there from year to year, and which have as their chief goal to become self-sustaining. Their goal is to make mon More...
Aug 12, 2011
Richard N.
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PROS: Absolutely and awesomely (in the truest form of the word) inspiring as it details a possible and successful venture into social business. The drive, focus, motivation, and innovation is very much appreciated and a great stimulus for anyone ready to consider taking on altruistic endeavors. Seeing just how much impact one person, and all of the wonderful people he came across and worked with, can impact the world it truly refreshing.
CONS: The detail on Mr. Yunus’s specific journe More...
CONS: The detail on Mr. Yunus’s specific journe More...
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Apr 30, 2009
Kevin
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This was very interesting. Yunus brings forth the idea of running a sustainable business for the express benefit of society, rather than shareholders. The main principle of the book is that, instead of running a business as a profit-maximizing business, a business could be run (he doesn't go as far as to say that all businesses _should_ be run this way, which is probably a smart move) as a social-benefit-maximizing business. Investors would get no dividends or return on their money, they woul
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Jan 29, 2011
Josephine
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If there were more people like Muhammad Yunus, then maybe his goal of stamping out poverty by 2050 will be achieved — hell, maybe he’ll be able to get Bangladesh there all on his own at the rate that he’s going.
In “Creating A World Without Poverty,”, Yunus talks about social businesses and the future of capitalism.
In this book, he talks about how, as Grameen Bank became more and more deeply rooted in the social conditions of the poor in Bangladesh, its mandate evolved and br More...
In “Creating A World Without Poverty,”, Yunus talks about social businesses and the future of capitalism.
In this book, he talks about how, as Grameen Bank became more and more deeply rooted in the social conditions of the poor in Bangladesh, its mandate evolved and br More...
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Aug 14, 2010
Drick
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If you wanted to test an idea that would help poor people rise out of poverty, Bangladesh would be the perfect place to start. That is what Muhammed Yunus did with his concept of social business. A social business is a business whose sole purpose is to alleviate the suffering and deprivation of poor people. It operates on basic business principles but does not have the purpose of returning value to shareholders, but rather addressing the needs of the poor. It is different than a socially respon
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Oct 05, 2011
Lizzie
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If you have ever wondered about the ability of third world countries to help their citizens move out of poverty, this book is for you! Yunus is an inspiring man who started Grameen Bank in the eighties, a forerunner of many of the microlending institutions that now exist (Kiva being the most famous one in American philanthropy circles). The premise of this book: that everyone in the world in poverty can move themselves out of poverty through the model of microlending and social enterprise is tr
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Oct 21, 2011
Atul
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Without doubt, Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism is an inspiring book.
I did not have a specific expectation of the book, when I started it - having known about the Grameen initiative and its activities. I started reading this book as a part of a course that I am doing (required reading). In reading the book, however, many ideas, thoughts and guiding philosophies came to the fore. It is quite revealing about how the idea of micro-credit has More...
I did not have a specific expectation of the book, when I started it - having known about the Grameen initiative and its activities. I started reading this book as a part of a course that I am doing (required reading). In reading the book, however, many ideas, thoughts and guiding philosophies came to the fore. It is quite revealing about how the idea of micro-credit has More...
Aug 09, 2011
Had he a time machine, Muhammad Yunus could have prevented the death of over a billion people by counseling Karl Marx on Capitalism's power to truly transform the world, eliminate poverty, and raise people by their own bootstraps out of despair and into self reliance.
Yunus's vision, followed completely, would do just that. I believe this gentleman from Bangladesh could be one of the most important figures of the 21st century, whose ideas could have deep impact on even the 22nd century, and beyo More...
Yunus's vision, followed completely, would do just that. I believe this gentleman from Bangladesh could be one of the most important figures of the 21st century, whose ideas could have deep impact on even the 22nd century, and beyo More...
Sep 26, 2009
Marcus
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This book has several 5 star ideas, but ultimately is too long in it's prose. Dr. Yunus , Nobel Prize winner, describes his concept of a "Social Business" in this book. A social business operates exactly as a for profit entity, but has social goals rather than a goal of maximizing profit. To facilitate this all investors agree to receive only their original capital back after which the business pays no further dividends and reinvests all its' profits into it's social goals. I find
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Jul 20, 2009
Lexi
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Read this actually a few months ago, but was reminded of it from a tweet this morning. The book is solid. A good idea, well-described, in language a non-economist can understand. Yunus is looking to bridge the innovation and efficiency of for-profit business with the social-improvement mission of the non-profit sector. I say: It's about freaking time!! No, business models can't solve everything (but you can expect Yunus to think so as a Nobel Winning Ecnomist and founder of the Grameen Bank
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Sep 01, 2008
Alfian
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Dunia tanpa kemiskinan adalah sebuah kemustahilan, tetapi dunia tanpa problem kemiskinan adalah sebuah keniscayaan. Muhammad Yunus dalam buku ini, sama seperti buku-bukunya yang lain, memberi solusi-solusi yang sangat masuk akal untuk mengatasi berbagai permasalahan kemiskinan dan kemelaratan itu.
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Feb 28, 2008
Judy
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call me a cynic but i had to keep from rolling my eyes in reading this book. muhammad yanus is a reincarnation of mother teresa herself. really innovative (albeit a little naive) ideas of how to eliminate property, and a how-to primer on social business. recommended...with a grain of salt.
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Aug 27, 2011
Andrew
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The idea was good. Instead of a corperation with the intent of making a profit, make a corporation with the intent of doing good and being self-sufficient. Both would still compete in the same markets for the money of the users, but instead of reporting to share holders who care only about "the bottom line," these shareholders would also be invested in the idea of providing clean water, bringing people out of poverty, etc.
The book though, was horrible. Maybe its how all bus More...
The book though, was horrible. Maybe its how all bus More...
Jul 14, 2010
Rebecca
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Muhammad Yunus and his work are really amazing. Reading about the different Grameen businesses really overwhelmed me and made me wonder where on earth do I begin to start to achieve something even remotely close to that??! But it is inspiring and really makes you wanna stop sitting around and do something!
The book is rather academic though, like a thesis, so I had to skim through some parts which were overly informational/ argumentative. I didn't really need persuading about the ben More...
The book is rather academic though, like a thesis, so I had to skim through some parts which were overly informational/ argumentative. I didn't really need persuading about the ben More...
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Mar 01, 2008
Kathy
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Amazing book about creating "social businesses" from Nobel Peace Prize winner Yunus. His ideas for changing the world are fascinating, lots of food for thought on other ways to look at structuring our business world while creating a better society.
Mar 23, 2009
Chade66
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If you have read "Bank to the Poor" there are parts of this you can skim/skip towards the beginning where he talks about the founding of Grameen Bank. I find his idea of social business (and his definition of it) interesting, and the idea of a wish list for social change interesting too.
Sometimes in the day-to-day grind of what you are doing at work, you sometimes lose sight of what the work is supposed to be getting you. I think you lose opportunities that way. Its im More...
Sometimes in the day-to-day grind of what you are doing at work, you sometimes lose sight of what the work is supposed to be getting you. I think you lose opportunities that way. Its im More...
Apr 16, 2010
Russ
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An amazing book, not so much from how it is written but from the sheer strength and innovation of the ideas that the author has used to lift thousands of people out of poverty without using charity.
Yunus was told that you can't lend money to the poor as they won't pay it back. He proves that with the right support, the poor are better at handling debt and turning it to profit than the Western world.
The ideas in this book blew me away and my life has not been the same sinc More...
Yunus was told that you can't lend money to the poor as they won't pay it back. He proves that with the right support, the poor are better at handling debt and turning it to profit than the Western world.
The ideas in this book blew me away and my life has not been the same sinc More...
Jul 28, 2011
I think his ideas could work in the United States, if we had a properly functioning government, to replace Social Security, food stamps, and other social programs in place right now. Why are people so afraid of a self sustaining charity? If we actually wanted to make a difference we'd take a long hard look at the way money is spent by our government, what is actually bought with that money, and who actually benefits from that exchange. If we could only put politics aside and try to make the b
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Dec 03, 2008
Robert
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This book has some really great ideas. He talks about Social Business from the aspect of helping the poor, but I felt it should have been extended into the environment. He does mention the environment, but does not talk as extensive as poverty. I understand that his specialty is poverty not environmental issues, but he obviously is concerned with the earth as a whole and working to make the world better for future generations. Anyone who is concerned with social issues should read this book, whi
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Jul 31, 2010
Missjgray
rated it:
I kinda blew through this one and then called it "done."
I was mostly interested in a non-Christian's motivations for helping the poor. This book is mostly about the "how" not the "why" and focuses on Yunus' Nobel-Peace-Prize-winning work with social-business and micro-finance, which is, of course, highly commendable. I did not find a satisfactory answer to the question of why business should be called upon to be socially conscious. From either a Christi More...
I was mostly interested in a non-Christian's motivations for helping the poor. This book is mostly about the "how" not the "why" and focuses on Yunus' Nobel-Peace-Prize-winning work with social-business and micro-finance, which is, of course, highly commendable. I did not find a satisfactory answer to the question of why business should be called upon to be socially conscious. From either a Christi More...
Aug 13, 2009
Ime'...
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The reason why I’d reading this book was actually to learn about the microcredit itself; the mechanism, how it works and others related. Well, I do learn a little bit about the microcredit, but I learned more about poverty and how private sectors could actually contribute to the poverty itself.
I learned a little bit about social business which I actually think that it is a great idea, yet I’m quite pessimistic whether such concept can be applied to all companies in the world. They woul More...
I learned a little bit about social business which I actually think that it is a great idea, yet I’m quite pessimistic whether such concept can be applied to all companies in the world. They woul More...
Feb 10, 2009
Margaret
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Excellent book. I saw one less than stellar review and she sounded like a jaded b*tch who doesn't see the potential society has for progress beyond its own selfish means. Even if Yunus' hopes are far reaching, I don't think they are impossible when you see everything he's done. And with the people he helps, they will continue to spread this hope for a world without poverty and one with peace.... at this rate, with the economy tanking, we may all need his expertise one day and be vulnerable enoug
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Apr 22, 2010
Carol Rich
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Muhammad Yunus has saved millions of people in Bangladesh from poverty by beginning a microcredit system there, improving educational, health, nutrtion, and agricultural practices, and teaching the people in one of the poorest countries in the world how to save money for emergencies, retirement, and school costs. If implemented through the world, his ideas could greatly reduce poverty and could save millions of lives. Mr. Yunus' ideas deserve study by college students and by anyone who would l
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Nov 14, 2011
Apryl
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I read this in the spirit of celebration for what's already been done, and with brave hope for the future...but it didn't give me the answers I really wanted. I want to defeat the spirit of poverty that permeates every level of society. Poverty of wealth is a symptom of the far greater disease. Yunus is catalyst to healing, but this goes far deeper and into the oppression that leads to death. Social business is a powerful component of the cure, but how does every individual recognize and acc
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Jan 04, 2011
Acc13
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Best sections are the ones describing the history and formation of Grameen bank, and Grameen Danone.
The rest can best be summarized by the epilogue, which is the Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech that Yunus delivered in 2006. The descriptions of social business - its definition, examples of, ideas for, governance and support institutions surrounding - is interesting, but can get quite repetitive.
Yunus' passion and creativity when it comes to problems surrounding poverty, howeve More...
The rest can best be summarized by the epilogue, which is the Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech that Yunus delivered in 2006. The descriptions of social business - its definition, examples of, ideas for, governance and support institutions surrounding - is interesting, but can get quite repetitive.
Yunus' passion and creativity when it comes to problems surrounding poverty, howeve More...
Jul 10, 2011
Rose
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Social business is a powerful idea: a business whose primary goal is a particular social good, and whose investors and shareholders agree up front that no one will take any profit out of the business. Any profit that a social business makes is reinvested into the organization itself to further its social goals.
By removing the profit motivator, Muhammad Yunus believes that poverty and other societal ills can be addressed through this form of social capitalism.
As a book, I More...
By removing the profit motivator, Muhammad Yunus believes that poverty and other societal ills can be addressed through this form of social capitalism.
As a book, I More...
Dec 27, 2009
Mina
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The book is full of great and inspiring ideas and it's helped me structure what I want to do -just having a name to call it, a social business, actually helps a lot. The anecdotal stuff is great and the suggestions as to what to do to start getting rid of poverty in your town/city/country at all excellent and very moving and empowering. My only complain about this book might be that at some point it just starts going the same things over and over again, so the third quarter of the book was rathe
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Dec 27, 2009
Jarkko
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The question after reading this book is not whether the book was good or not but what do I want to do about the challenge it sets.
Someone here commented that the final chapter about putting poverty to museums was naive and unrealistic. While that may be true, the image of my grandchildren going to such a museum and wondering why on earth did our parents allow poverty to last so long touched me deeply. I can't help but feel that there is a whole lot of truth in this idea. It is unet More...
Someone here commented that the final chapter about putting poverty to museums was naive and unrealistic. While that may be true, the image of my grandchildren going to such a museum and wondering why on earth did our parents allow poverty to last so long touched me deeply. I can't help but feel that there is a whole lot of truth in this idea. It is unet More...
Apr 13, 2009
AuthorsOnTourLive!
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We met Muhammad Yunus when he visited the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver. You can listen to him talk about "Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism" here: http://www.authorsontourlive.com/?p=232
About this podcast:
Muhammad Yunus, a native of Bangladesh, was educated at Dhaka University and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study economics at Vanderbilt University, and in 1972 he became head of the economics department at More...
About this podcast:
Muhammad Yunus, a native of Bangladesh, was educated at Dhaka University and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study economics at Vanderbilt University, and in 1972 he became head of the economics department at More...
Jan 28, 2012
Heather
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Great book! Very inspiring! Makes me want change the world and fix the problems around me. Muhammad Yunus is a good example of doing something about a problem and not a small one either. As a university professor teaching economics in Bangladesh surrounded by poverty he decides to do something. He starts a bank to help those in poverty get out from the moneylenders' control. Yunus is passionate about the mission to end poverty globally and has a lot of interesting ideas. Many of them have
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