Light on ideas, heavy on preaching and a more than a little aggrandizement, but certainly a topic worth of attention. The book is a quick read and is inspiring even when it is banal. I wouldn't have minded a bit more depth into How Things Work and Why They Do, but the people aspect and personal anecdotes that illustrate the story Grameen are fascinating in and of themselves. ( )

My face to face book club is reading this one for May. I'll say this for it, I never would have picked this book up on my own.

On the plus side, Yunus' passion for eradicating poverty does come through, and I think he is the real deal. He has worked with many politicians and philanthropists, and he names names. As an economist, he is good at explaining what could have been complex concepts and bringing them down to terms that are very understandable and clear. I admire his devotion to working with the poor in a way that is very respectful and preserving of their dignity. It really is a tale of what one man can do to make change, and in that regard, it is extremely compelling.

On the less good side, while the book was a fast read, it also was somewhat boring. I mean how interesting can you make a book about loans be? The answer - - not very. I sort of felt that the book lacked some soul, but I really forgive Yunus because you can't make the truth be something that it isn't. The truth is that if you loan very poor people some money, some industrious ones will develop a cottage industry that is enough to ensure that they eat and that they have a roof over their heads. And in Bangladesh, that's saying a lot. But it isn't really a rags to riches story . . .it's more like a rags to better rags story.

Yunus also feels compelled to share many numerical specifics - - and frankly I think that is appropriate because it lends substance to his book. It's also - - not that interesting.And there is the fact that he has a certain air of self importance that while it may be justified is still slightly annoying.

So all in all, he takes a tough-to-write about topic and does a good enough job with it to publish a book the mainstream public can enjoy. That's pretty impressive. And my hat is off to him for the good he has done for poverty stricken people worldwide. ( )

Though solidly grounded in the practical applications it still seems somehow idealistic. Yunus covers many examples of expansion or the adaptation of his model in other countries, even the US. I still wonder if the US is too large a country.

Follow up:
bureaucratic waste
Millennium Development Goals from the UN
socially conscious entrepreneurship
mentally incapacitated/not able to make their own way? ( )

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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Very inspiring story by Muhammad Yunus about his Grameen Bank and how micro-lending improved millions of lives in Bangladesh and around the world. A truly inspiring story of socially engaged entrepreneurship. ( )