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Banker to the Poor: The Story of the Grameen BankQuelle: AmazonISBN: 1854109243 6,43 EUR
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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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Kunden Meinungen
Eine einmalige Lebensgeschichte
Datum:27.10.2009 - Rating: 5/5"Banker to the Poor" ist fuer jeden der eine Einladung in das Thema Micro-Credit sucht, sich vom eindrucksvollen Leben Yunus' inspirieren lassen moechte, den Ursprung von Micro-Credit verstehen moechte, oder einfach nur eine hochwertige Urlaubslektuere sucht. Dieses Buch regt zum Nachdenken an und demonstriert anhand einfacher Darstellung wie durch Micro-Credit Millionen von Menschen weltweit geholfen werden kann, nicht nur in Bangladesh. Yunus gibt verschiedene Einblicke in das Thema Micro-Credit, vom Standpunkt seiner eigenen Motivationen, vom makroökonmischen Standpunkt, aber vor allem vom menschlichen Standpunkt. Am Ende findet der Leser eine Lektuere die Teils aus Autobiografie, Managementlektuere und Wirtschaftbuch besteht die bis zum Ende neue Einblicke gewaehrt.
A striking example of someone who made a difference
Datum:15.09.2009 - Rating: 5/5The story of Grameen Bank as told by its founder, Nobel Peace prize winner and economist Dr. Muhammad Yunus is an inspiring read. From the origins of Grameen back in 1983, when Yunus gave out a micro-credit loan of 27 $ to 42 women in a tiny village, to the ongoing development of a multi-billion non-profit enterprise, Yunus describes how he put his vision of a poverty-free world into practice.
Grameen enables the poor of the poor to break the poverty cycle by granting them access to the financial means they need to jumpstart themselves economically. With a repayment rate of 98%, its business rests on the fact that "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." This includes repaying their debts - last but not least because this will enable them to obtain access to further Grameen credit.
Yunus criticizes the classic approach to helping developing countries by simply throwing money at them. He also challenges the assumption that all uneducated people need to be specifically trained or educated before being handed resources. The visionary character of Yunus' views on world poverty becomes especially apparent where he propagates an alternative role-model for the 21st century; the socially conscious entrepreneur. Finally, "... Poverty does not belong in civilized human society ... So the real question is not so much where we will be in the year 2050, but where we would like the world to be in 2050." In other words: Prerequisites to making progress are clear-cut goals, effort and determination.
Yunus is an impressive individual, visionary and leader who continues to dedicate his life to eradicating world poverty and the misery that comes with it, enabling people to help themselves and regain their sense of self esteem. The micro-credit model has come a long way. Today, it is copied internationally. It is safe to say that Dr. Muhammad Yunus has made the world a better place - for millions of families, all over the globe.
Informative, Motivating and Well Presented
Datum:14.07.2000 - Rating: 5/5I liked this book a lot. I had heard of micro-credit, but wanted to know what it was from its originator, Dr. Yunus. It is very informative about his struggles to get it started and rolling. What I liked best was that it was told like a story and it motivated me to do more research into Micro Credit.
What this is not is a how-to manual for implementing Micro-Credit programs. But it is still a great book!
Frank, conversational autobiography
Datum:17.06.2000 - Rating: 4/5The simplicity and success of under-$100 lending turned Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Dhaka-based Grameen Bank, into a contemporary icon of hu-manitarian economics. He uses this autobiography, however, to step off the pedestal-not of his own construction-and tell his story in frank, conversational terms. "I never intended to become a moneylender. All I wanted to do was solve an immediate problem. Out of sheer frustration, I had questioned the most basic banking premise of collateral...." The question gave rise to Grameen Bank's conception of credit as a human right. Today, Grameen Bank is a multi-billion-dollar, multi-branched, international non-profit enterprise that has redefined the notion of development.
A Long March to a poverty-free world?
Datum:08.06.2000 - Rating: 5/5Professor Muhammed Yunus, with a combination of analytical clarity and moral indignation that is too rare among economists, embarked on a personal journey to stamp out poverty back in 1976. Amazingly, from that modest beginning of a $27 mini loan, his Grameen ("of the village") Bank has now distributed the equivalent of over one billion dollars to 2 million borrowers! And their repayment rate is above 98%. Provocatively, his scathing critiques of traditional economics will mark him as an innovator who belives in a "socially-consciousness-driven private sector". Summing up, if a "Long March" of 1,000 miles begins with the first step, then reading this book will surely be happy trails for the aspiring pioneers of the new collective economy of the 21st century.
