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Whistle Stopper - Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty
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List Price: $15.00
Our Price: $7.23
Your Save: $ 7.77 ( 52% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: PublicAffairs
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.1095492
EAN: 9781586481988
ISBN: 1586481983
Label: PublicAffairs
Manufacturer: PublicAffairs
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 312
Publication Date: 2008-01-08
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Release Date: 2003-10-14
Studio: PublicAffairs
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Should be title "How I succeeded as banker to the poor"
Comment:
There is no doubt that the author seems to have done a lot of hopeless people a great service. However, this book really struck me as being more about him, why he is so amazing, and how he repeatedly overcame odds dealing with short-sighted, ignorant, selfish bankers doing things the traditional way. The book would have appealed to me a lot more if he had gone further in explaining why traditional methods failed but were maintained. Also, there was very little frank discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of microfinance. Sounds like maybe I should have read the Wilson Quarterly article instead.
The book was a repetitive sales pitch and could have been a lot more.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Creativity from below : Muhammad Yunus
Comment: Yunus with his Grameen Bank initiative has brought a new notion that the bank can be truly too at the total dedication to the poor not just the rich one. Rural poor women are changing the face of the family situation through this initiative of Grameen Bank that not only bring micro-credit to poor people but also keep introducing new opportunities and creative assets for quenching poverty.
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Summary: The birth of micro-lending
Comment: Banker to the Poor, is by written Nobel peace prize reciepent, Muhammad Yunus. As a professor in Bangladesh, Yunus, with just twenty-seven dollars of his own money, was the "mid-wife" to micro-lending movement. He parlayed his success into remarkable achievements which have bettered the lives of millions.
It wasn't always easy, and his telling of the story, is inspirational, if somewhat repetitive. You can easily imagine the tears of joy of villagers, who with micro-lending, are able to rise above mere substience living.
He makes the case that much misery is alleviated when micro-lending is available to the poor in the Third World. While Yunus does not say so directly it is easy to extrapolate, that poor people leading better lives do not take up violence. America would be a lot more secure if it took a few millions from "military assistance" and instead invested it in micro-lending.
However, Yunus claims, "everyone" benefits when trade barriers are dropped. Trade barriers have largely been lifted in the apparel industry Consequently, the textile industry in the US employs a mere fraction of workers than it used to. Guess "everyone" doesn't include the tens of thousands of former American texitle workers.
There must be a way, to support the developement of the Third World, without America losing jobs. While Yunus doesn't answer that question, he does have a lot of answers. A five-star book.
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Summary: Inspiring, a concrete way to change the world & end poverty, for real
Comment: One of the most inspiring books I've ever read, and certainly the most eye-openning about how REAL change can be made in the world, on the grand scale--and not through the way that I would think change such as ending world poverty, could come about (through philanthropists, donations, taking care of the poor's needs for them)...but instead through a radically new economic/business model, that simply replaces "doing good" with "making profit" in the traditional capitalist way.
This is clearly written, extremely engaging and down to earth--no lofty economic theories here. These are all the details by the man who has proven simple empowerment of the poor through microcredit is the catalyst needed for widesweeping social change.
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Summary: Some great ideas, but . . .
Comment: As with many people who review the poverty issue, Dr. Yunus has some great ideas. His microfinance ideas are very useful and should be part of aid packages and promoted by the World Bank.
However, it is not the panacea that he sees to ameliorate the world's poverty. This winter's Wilson Quarterly showed that a large part of the microloans made go not toward business but towards home improvement and schooling. Yunus' Grameen Bank has addressed this through creating special loan packages for these purposes. Yet the availability of credit to the poorest of the poor is a great innovation that must be recognized.
Yunus does fall into the usual trap of specialists where their specialty is all we should pay attention to. Hernando de Soto is the same with his opening the bell jar of property, and Sachs argues for spending in his own pet projects.
Additionally, Yunus is quite full of himself. his detracts from the quality of the book as well. However, it is a good read and will make you want to put micro finance on the list of options: 3 and a half stars.
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Editorial Reviews:
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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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