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

by Muhammad Yunus

book data

1,248 ratings, 4.08 average rating, 359 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		34%
4		43%
3		19%
2		2%
1		0%

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published

January 8th 2003 by PublicAffairs

binding

Paperback, 288 pages

isbn

1586481983 (isbn13: 9781586481988)

description

It began with a simple $27 loan. After witnessing the cycle of poverty that kept many poor women enslaved to high-interest loan sharks in Bangladesh, ...more

[close] It began with a simple $27 loan. After witnessing the cycle of poverty that kept many poor women enslaved to high-interest loan sharks in Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus lent money to 42 women so they could purchase bamboo to make and sell stools. In a short time, the women were able to repay the loans while continuing to support themselves and their families. With that initial eye-opening success, the seeds of the Grameen Bank, and the concept of microcredit, were planted.

After earning a Ph.D. in economics at Vanderbilt University, Dr. Yunus returned to Bangladesh to settle into a life as a professor. But a famine in 1974 ravaged the country, leading Dr. Yunus to alter his thinking and his life profoundly: "What good were all my complex theories when people were dying of starvation on the sidewalks and porches across from my lecture hall?.... Nothing in the economic theories I taught reflected the life around me." Armed with little more than a lofty dream to end the suffering around him, he started an experimental microcredit enterprise in 1977; by 1983 the Grameen Bank was officially formed.

The idea behind the Grameen Bank is ingeniously simple: extend credit to poor people and they will help themselves. This concept strikes at the root of poverty by specifically targeting the poorest of the poor, providing small loans (usually less than $300) to those unable to obtain credit from traditional banks. At Grameen, loans are administered to groups of five people, with only two receiving their money up front. As soon as these two make a few regular payments, loans are gradually extended to the rest of the group. In this way, the program builds a sense of community as well as individual self-reliance. Most of the Grameen Bank's loans are to women, and since its inception, there has been an astonishing loan repayment rate of over 98 percent.

Banker to the Poor is an inspiring memoir of the birth of microcredit, written in a conversational tone that makes it both moving and enjoyable to read. The Grameen Bank is now a $2.5 billion banking enterprise in Bangladesh, while the microcredit model has spread to over 50 countries worldwide, from the U.S. to Papua New Guinea, Norway to Nepal. Ever optimistic, Yunus travels the globe spreading the belief that poverty can be eliminated: "...the poor, once economically empowered, are the most determined fighters in the battle to solve the population problem; end illiteracy; and live healthier, better lives. When policy makers finally realize that the poor are their partners, rather than bystanders or enemies, we will progress much faster that we do today." Dr. Yunus's efforts prove that hope is a global currency. --Shawn Carkonen

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06/16/08

nanto rated it:

(review of isbn 979126001X)

bookshelves: biografi-dan-memoirs, ekonomi-politik

Read in August, 2008

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...more

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28 comments

04/18/08

Abby rated it:

Read in January, 2002

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...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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02/24/08

Amang Suramang rated it:

(review of isbn 979126001X)

bookshelves: indonesian, non-fiction

Orang miskin di Bangladesh boleh berbahagia sekarang. Terima kasih pada bank-bank yang tersebar di negeri banjir itu yang bernama Grameen. Dalam Bank ini semua orang miskin, juga para pengemis, dapat memperoleh kredit tanpa agunan.

Hingga akhir 2006, Bank Grameen telah mengucurkan kredit kepada hampir 7 juta peminjam di 73.000 desa. Para peminjamnya kebanyakan perempuan. Mereka memakai kredit untuk memulai usaha kecil, membangun rumah dan membiayai sekolah. Khusus untuk para pengem...more Orang miskin di Bangladesh boleh berbahagia sekarang. Terima kasih pada bank-bank yang tersebar di negeri banjir itu yang bernama Grameen. Dalam Bank ini semua orang miskin, juga para pengemis, dapat memperoleh kredit tanpa agunan.

Hingga akhir 2006, Bank Grameen telah mengucurkan kredit kepada hampir 7 juta peminjam di 73.000 desa. Para peminjamnya kebanyakan perempuan. Mereka memakai kredit untuk memulai usaha kecil, membangun rumah dan membiayai sekolah. Khusus untuk para pengemis, Bank Grameen menyediakan kredit tanpa bunga. Peminjam boleh membayar kapan pun dengan jumlah berapa pun. Mereka diberi ide agar membawa barang seperti makanan, mainan dan kebutuhan rumah tangga saat mereka meminta-minta dari rumah ke rumah. Lebih dari 85.000 pengemis ikut program ini. Pinjaman untuk mereka biasanya sekitar Rp 120.000,-

Semua itu dimungkinkan karena Muhammad Yunus, pendiri Bank Grameen, percaya bahwa jika diberi modal, jutaan orang miskin dapat menciptakan keajaiban dengan usaha kecil mereka.

Dengan memberikan kredit kepada orang miskin, Yunus melawan kemiskinan sebagai langkah awal untuk perdamaian. "Perdamaian," kata Yunus, "terancam oleh tatanan ekonomi, sosial dan politik yang tidak adil, tiadanya demokrasi, kerusakan lingkungan dan pelanggaran hak-hak asasi manusia."

Jangan bayangkan semua itu terjadi semudah membalikkan tangan. Semua jerih payah itu butuh waktu 30 tahun. 30 tahun lalu Bangladesh sedang dilanda kelaparan hebat. Yunus mengajar di salah satu universitas di negerinya. Di ruang kelas ia mengajarkan teori ekonomi yang muluk-muluk dengan antusiasme seorang yang baru lulus dari Amerika Serikat. Namun, selesai mengajar, begitu keluar kelas, ia langsung melihat kerangka hidup berkeliaran di sekelilingnya: orang-orang yang sekarat, tinggal menunggu ajal.

"Saya merasa," tutur Yunus, "apa pun yang telah saya pelajari, apa pun yang saya ajarkan, hanya merupakan khayalan, yang tak punya arti bagi kehidupan orang-orang itu. Karena itu, saya mulai mencoba mengetahui bagaimana orang-orang yang tinggal di kampung sebelah universitas kami itu menjalani kehidupan mereka. Saya ingin tahu apakah ada sesuatu yang dapat saya lakukan sebagai sesama manusia, untuk menunda atau menghentikan kematian, walaupun hanya menyangkut satu orang saja. Saya pun meninggalkan pola pandang seekor burung, yang memungkinkan kita untuk melihat segala-galanya jauh dari atas, dari langit. Saya mulai mengenakan pandangan mata seekor cacing, yang berusaha mengetahui apa yang saja yang terpapar persis di depan mata – mencium baunya, menyentuhnya, dan melihat apakah ada sesuatu yang bisa saya lakukan."

Yunus menanggalkan ke-priyayi-annya dan bergumul langsung dengan rakyat yang membutuhkan kepintarannya. Berbeda dengan orang-orang perbankan, Yunus memilih untuk percaya pada orang-orang miskin. Ia sendiri mulai meminjami dan herannya setiap kali dipinjam, uangnya selalu kembali setiap sennya.

Akhirnya, pada tanggal 2 Oktober 1983 berdirilah Bank Grameen, Bank Orang Miskin. "Betapa bersemangatnya kami semua, ketika kami memiliki bank kami sendiri, dan kami dapat melakukan ekspansi sekehendak kami. Dan nyatanya kami terus berkembang."

Berkat Bank Grameen, separo lebih nasabah telah melewati garis kemiskinan dan 5.000 pengemis berhenti meminta-minta. Lalu Panitia Nobel 2006 menganugerahkan penghargaan Nobel Perdamaian kepada Muhammad Yunus dan Bank Grammen.

Contoh yang patut ditiru bukan? Nah, cendekia... jangan malu-malu untuk mengikuti jejak pak Yunus.
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06/10/07

Noah rated it:

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 ...more

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03/15/09

Corinne rated it:

bookshelves: the-nook-book-club

Read in March, 2009

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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03/02/09

Leslie rated it:

Read in February, 2009

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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06/24/09

Sara Jaye rated it:

Read in June, 2009

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...more

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05/09/09

Scott rated it:

bookshelves: 2000s, money

Read in May, 2009

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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03/31/09

Adrienne rated it:

bookshelves: book-count-09, non-fiction

Read in February, 2009

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 importa...more

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11/25/08

Peg rated it:

Read in November, 2008

recommended to Peg by: My daughter

Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank that he founded were recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. The subtitle of this volume is 'Micro-lending and the battle against world poverty.' The program began in the 1970s and consisted of loaning very small amounts of money to very poor people, enabling them to become self-employed instead of giving most of the money earned to the middlemen. The example he gives is a woman who made bamboo stools. She bought the bamboo from a middleman, made the ...more

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06/26/08

Tyler rated it:

Read in July, 2008

recommended to Tyler by: Stumbled upon it at bookstore and bought it immediately
recommends it for: businessmen, economists, policymakers, hopeful idealists, and cynics

I LOVED THIS BOOK -- six stars. It tells the story of Grameen and microcredit from the beginning until now.

Forget theories, classrooms, and endless postulating. Acting on a desire to help others will go so much further than all of aggrandized theories and reticent intentions.

Muhammad Yunus changed the world with a simple idea spurned from his moral sense.

Simple goodwill is undervalued.

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07/25/07

Pera rated it:

(review of isbn 979126001X)

bookshelves: to-read

recommends it for: fasilitator

Sebuah kutipan menarik dituliskan M Yunus dalam pendahulun bukunya, Kaum miskin mengajarkan saya ilmu ekonomi yang sepenuhnya baru.

Buku ini kisah perjalanan dalam memerangi kemiskinan di negeri yang carut marut dan tantangan budaya yang sulit bagi pemberdayaan perempuan.

Penyampaiannya mirip seperti laporan tapi juga diary. Cukup baik untuk menjadi contoh bagi pelaku2 pemberdayaan masyarakat.

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09/13/07

Mellyana rated it:

(review of isbn 0979126001)

bookshelves: development, insight

Read in September, 2007

inspiring.a professor outside university. a struggle to work on poverty. a sense of gender out of a man from Moslem's background. a must read.

I wont say that his approach is the best way to help the poor, but one should learn how theory put into practice by Yunus. 30 years of struggling to work with bureaucracy and profit oriented institution. Thirty years! Imagine that.

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07/14/07

Anna Wilson rated it:

bookshelves: poverty

Read in January, 2006

If any of you have been wondering why I won't shut up about microfinance, this book will explain it better than I ever could. Muhammad Yunus, recent winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, used his training in economics to provide innovative financial services to the poor. Now being replicated all over the world, his practice of microlending has enabled millions to rise out of poverty.

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04/06/09

Lynn rated it:

Read in April, 2009

This book is incredibly inspiring! Muhammad Yunus is a brilliant and compassionate man. Banker to the Poor is the true story about the beginnings and progression of micro-lending and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Started in the late 1970s, Grameen and it's sister organizations can now be found in impoverished communities all over the world - including the United States.

Yunus learned that the poor often are not the ones who benefit from programs designed to help them. Instead mo...more This book is incredibly inspiring! Muhammad Yunus is a brilliant and compassionate man. Banker to the Poor is the true story about the beginnings and progression of micro-lending and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Started in the late 1970s, Grameen and it's sister organizations can now be found in impoverished communities all over the world - including the United States.

Yunus learned that the poor often are not the ones who benefit from programs designed to help them. Instead money gets spent on the bureaucratic institutions managing the money. In addition, when money does get handed down to the poor, it's never the "bottom of the barrel" poor. While governments may design programs for poorer farmers and business owners, the landless poor with no physical assets are left out. Trickle down economics doesn't work here. These are exactly the people that Yunus chose to focus on when starting the first micro-lending bank.

He found a way to help pull the most destitute people out of poverty by giving them small loans. While bankers criticized Yunus saying that the poor surely would default on their loans, Yunus knew better. He realized something they hadn't - that the poor are the ones who have everything to lose. This would be their one and only shot at taking real control of their lives. And it worked.

Yunus focused on giving loans to women, an incredibly difficult task in patriarchal Bangladesh. But Yunus saw that when women pulled themselves out of poverty, they also pulled their children out. Furthermore when women earned extra money, he witnessed them spending it on improving their homes. On the contrary, when male borrowers finally earned extra money, they spent it on themselves. And finally, women Grameen borrowers very often took steps to have fewer children - population growth being a "growing" problem in the small country.

Despite the obvious success of the Grameen banking system, critics still insisted that the model wouldn't work elsewhere. Many people argued that the poor in more developed nations needed job training and jobs - not credit. They further claimed that the poor were often just plain lazy. Yunus countered that the poor shouldn't have job training forced upon them unless they're asking for it. In fact, he argued that the poor are incredibly resourceful. They are both willing to work and already possess many skills. What they don't have is any capital to start something on their own.

Muhammad Yunus must be a very patient man, because he continually met these same criticisms everywhere he went. Just reading his accounts made me angry. Yunus did persevere however, proving time and time again the Grameen model works.

Overall I was inspired by his perspective on business in general. Yunus believes that businesses can both make a profit and be socially conscious. The Grameen Bank does make a profit, but not at the expense of the people it is trying to help. There is a balance between greediness and martyrdom. Yunus has found it.

Like I said, this book is goosebumps on the skin inspiring...and you all should read it.
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02/12/09

Dana rated it:

Read in January, 2009

Micro-lending interests me, in part, because it is about empowering women to support themselves and their children. Muhammad Yunus, an economics professor at Chittagong University in Bangladesh, saw people starving outside the university compound and decided to do something about it. This book describes his effort to start the Grameen Bank, an organization dedicated to loaning money to some of the poorest people in the world. For twenty-two cents, Yunus was able to help a women get out of a ...more

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12/28/07

Harfianto rated it:

bookshelves: currently-reading

Read in December, 2007

recommends it for: pengambil kebijakan, aktivis

benar-benar buku yang menggugah, membalik kesadaran kita soal orang miskin dan penanganannya. Sekaligus juga mempertanyakan metoda pemberantasan kemiskinan selama ini. Yang menarik, Yunus yakin orang miskin tidak perlu diberi pelatihan. Merekalah kelompok masyarakat yang mampu bertahan ditengah-tengah kehidupan ini.

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01/11/09

Michelle rated it:

bookshelves: non-fiction

Read in January, 2009

recommended to Michelle by: a professor
recommends it for: economists and altruists

It was so refreshing to read such an intelligent account and learn about something I know very little about. Yunus stepped down from his ivory tower to eradicate poverty in Bangledesh using micro-loans and in short according to him it worked. He claims that credit is a human right. To me the best aspect of his model was that it was not a gift of money given to the poor, but a loan requiring repayment. The loan gave each person a chance to improve their own business and get out from oppressi...more

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01/03/09

Nancy rated it:

Read in January, 2009

Initially this book just sucked me in. I was horrified over Yunus' discoveries when he looked into poverty and the fine line that exists between becoming independent and starving. He is a man with a vision and has been able to do amazing things worldwide, but especially in his homeland of Bangladesh. By providing mostly women with micro-loans- as little as $22 they are able to move out of a hand-to-mouth existence and into being entrepreneurs who can not only support their own families but often...more

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01/29/09

Ray rated it:

(review of isbn 0786157925)

Read in February, 2009

Subtitled about micro-lending, I expected the book might be something of a dry economic treatice on banking. However, quite the contrary, the book was an engaging story of how Muhammad Yunus, an economic professor in Bangladesh in the 1970's, took small steps to improve the status of the poor villagers near his school. This eventually led to the forming of the Grameen Bank which has become a major source of poverty elimination and has loaned billions to the poor. The results are near-unbeliev...more Subtitled about micro-lending, I expected the book might be something of a dry economic treatice on banking. However, quite the contrary, the book was an engaging story of how Muhammad Yunus, an economic professor in Bangladesh in the 1970's, took small steps to improve the status of the poor villagers near his school. This eventually led to the forming of the Grameen Bank which has become a major source of poverty elimination and has loaned billions to the poor. The results are near-unbelievable, and resulted in his receipt of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.

His efforts began with his effort to do more than lecture on economic theory and actually bring economic benefit to his country. His volunteers idenfied a local example of a village woman who scraped by in life making bamboo stools. But she needed to borrow money for supplies, and then had to pay back that money after her labor, leaving only pennies for herself and her children. The cycle continued on a daily basis. By lending her the money she needed for supplies out of his own pocket, she was able to keep the profits for herself, gradually earning enough to break free of the money-lender and raise her family from total poverty. Through this beginning, he found support to loan very small amounts of money to very poor people, enabling them to become self-employed instead of giving most of the money earned to the middlemen. He chose to deal with the very poorest in his native Bangladesh, and almost exclusively with women, who had the fewest opportunities for success in this society.

The Peace Prize he was awarded recognized that lasting peace can not be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty. Micro-credit is one such means. Development from below also serves to advance democracy and human rights.

The book describes how micro-lending has succeeded from this small beginning, and benefited millions, not only in Bangladesh, but also in many countries around the world. He also was invited to the U.S. and intiated efforts during the Clinton years, although the initial efforts were not easy given the background of welfare and charity in this country. He shows the harmful side of a welfare mentality in this country, and how small financial backing to individuals can be a liberating force and bring economic benefit. He also shows how these efforts, while socially responsible and be profitable for banks as well. I found this to be a very enlightening book.
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