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 Intelligent Charity
Mohammad Yunus wasn't satisfied with the type of charity so common in today's world: throw money at the problem, feel good about ourselves, and move along quickly so we don't have to see the fact that our actions may have only made the problem worse.
Yunus's microcredit approach is about empowerment, not dependency. Small loans to the extremely poor enabled recipients to purchase weaving looms, material to make baskets, or carts to sell food. His greatest revelation was that the extremely poor were not incapable societal parasites. Rather, with a small amount of capital to get on their feet, these individuals created innovative businesses that ultimately supported themselves, their families, and education for their children.
The most interesting discovery is that the payback rate for the loans was higher than 98%--much better than the credit-worthy borrowers that normally attract the attention of the banks.
Yunus's ideas were inspiring. With his economics background, he emphasized that measurable results were more important than good intentions.
Trusting the poorest of the poor
The author defies all the commonsense reasoning of the affluent western world. He totally trusted the poorest of the poor to keep their word and pay their bills on time and to the amazement of the entire world they did.
Great read, very inspiring!
The story of the Grameen Bank is absolutely one of the best I have ever heard. Here is an actual solution to end poverty everywhere in the world that has worked already. I could not have been more excited after reading this book that we finally have the means to end poverty once and for all! I would recommend it to anyone who wants to actually get out there and do something!
Banker to the Poor
A wonderfully written book about what has been going on in the third world countries by Yunus, and what can be done here in the U.S. You will find the results of the Banker for the Poor a really uplifting read, and wonder what one can do to spread this method to those who cannot reach loans any other way to be successful.
A free-market manifesto
I do not know what Hillary Clinton and Jimmy Carter's endorsements are doing on this book. Muhammad Yunus is the next best thing to Milton Friedman. He's a lot wordier than Uncle Milton, though.
Muhammad Yunus is responsible for a revolutionary approach to poverty eradification: skip the world bank, bypass the UN, abolish the welfare state, and loan the money directly to poor people. Unsecured. No collateral. People know what they need to survive and thrive. Often it is as little as $125 dollars for a tin roof for their shack, so they can continue weaving or grinding grain for sale during the 5-month rainy season. That $125 may be the only thing keeping a family from desperate, filthy poverty. It may bring about their dignified self-sufficiency. But governments and banking traditions get in the way of poverty alleviation and perpetuate the misery.
Grameen bank has partnered with poor people worldwide to help them pull themselves out of poverty through individual initiative. Tiny bits of money to the best tamale maker so he can buy a cart and sell his tamales through town. Tiny bits of money so women can buy grain to grind for profit. Tiny bits of money that do not pass through the hands of bureaucrats or corrupt governments. Microcredit unleashes human potential.
Beginning at page 185, Yunus explores the reality of the welfare state in developed countries: the disincentives for work; the imprisonment of the poor at the bottom; and the tenacity of welfare programs, blocking innovation. Slowly, he describes people turning away from reliance on government. In real life, the taxes taken from rich people do not help the poor. They help the government employees in the bureaucracies. Helping the poor means those bureaucrats are out of a job. Page 204 is a rallying cry for government to get out of the way of individual enterprise. The private sector, unlike the government, is open to everyone.
Loaded with examples of people who have succeeded with micro loans, this book is a winner. Yunus was raised and trained in a marxist/Communist mentality (pp 203-220), but you can tell he is trying to shrug it off. He hasn't found the words yet for what he believes. He still has a hard time admitting capitalism is a benefit to humanity, but he concedes that free markets are very natural and wholesome, and indeed, the only solution for wiping out poverty.
To the extent that we continue to rely on governments for social programs, we will fail the poor.
Exciting to read!
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(based on 89 reviews)
