Give Us Credit

by Alex Counts

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

Genres: Nonfiction

361 pages, Hardcover

First published March 26, 1996

Reviews

[David Williams]

Fantastic look into an innovative program. I would have been interested in seeing cases of default, or failure, on part of the micro-lending program; something to round out the book's depiction of alleviating poverty through entrepreneurship. But for what's here, it's a fascinating look at the economic theory behind Grameen and the people it uplifted and empowered.

[Lorraine]

Another book in my microcredit interest, I found this one to be especially interesting because it focused on women in Bangladesh AND Chicago! The beginning went pretty slow for me, because it repeated quite a bit of historical information about Dr. Yunus and the Grameen Bank that I had read elsewhere, but after I got into it, I was fascinated by the developing stories of several women, both in Bangladesh and Chicago, and wish we could hear "what happened next" to these women, in the 12 years since the book came out.

[Beth]

This is a book about economic structure and the concept of micro-lending without collateral to ultra-poor countries to stimulate success. Yanus, the founder of the project, is a professor of economics in Bangladesh, where the program began. So far it's a bit of a "factual" read, but even with my limited (aka. NO) knowledge of economic theory, it's a great story of a bold idea that is helping shape the world for millions of people and giving them a leg up from their poverty-stricken lives.

[Kara]

The most well written book about micro-credit that I have read. I liked that it focused both on micro-credit in developing countries as well as the US, the unique challenges and success in each. It is written like a story although filled with facts. I highly recommend if you are looking to learn more about micro-credit.

[X]

Counts isn't the best writer; he did Grameen bank and its customers a disservice by writing about them in such a dull, soporific style.