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Rating: - Enhancing Dignity & Staying Profitable It all started with $27 and a goat. An engaging read into the world of micro-finance and Grameen Bank in Bangladesh that first proved that bottom-of-the-pyramid solutions work when delivered holistically. Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, goes about breaking down several myths on poverty and the poor. He bemoans that 'national development' is viewed in terms of GDP or income levels, while a more meaningful metric could be the number of people elevated out of poverty. He posits that the poor remain poor not because they are lazy, but because we have erected structures that don't lend to the poor because they have no collateral. He takes exception to governments and donor lending agencies that focus on big-ticket aid projects that do not necessarily benefit the poor. And he forcefully argues that government interventions in social programs result in inefficiencies and nepotism, and that the role of the government lies in creating policies and framework for the growth of 'social-consciousness-driven-enterprises'. While the flow of the book could have been structured better, the reader is left in no doubt that the pioneering principles of Grameen and its willingness to invert the prevalent lending practices are what have enabled numerous micro-finance movements in several countries. Grameen is profitable - but as Yunus says, "this is not about money. It is about unlocking human dreams and enabling the poorest to achieve dignity, respect and meaning in their lives." Rating: - Banking on the Poor It is quite sad that Yunis discovered that extreme poverty in Bangladesh can be helped for as few as twenty seven dollars American and his work within Bangladesh should serve as a beacon of hope to others seeking to fight back against the poverty monster. I enjoyed this read very much but couldn't give it the full five stars because I didn't feel like there where enough personal success stories that illustrated the viability of micro lending to the poor. Instead Yunis explains we lent x amount of money to y person and there able to do z now. Personal testimonials would've made for a powerful statement of the Grameen Bank programs rather than just explaining from Yunis. A second thought is if these programs have met for so much success how come they haven't been exported in mass throughout the world ? Much of the book focuses on poorer rural areas like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines, even several counties in the state of Arkansas in the United States. Are these programs ineffective in urban areas because of socio-economic factors? I currently live in a city of a 150,000 thousand people that may benefit from programs that Yunis is talking about, but yet there is scant evidence of implementation within inner cities. With economies crashing throughout the world, the impoverished cannot just be assumed to live in rural areas anymore. If we are to take Yunis ideas for battling world poverty seriously, these ideas have to be increasingly applied in inner cities. Rating: - GREAT READ! My book club chose this book, and I anticipated it would be dry, academic and not particularly interesting. To my surprise and delight, it was a wonderful, exciting story of a dream fulfilled and people of no means given a chance for real success. I loved it. Rating: - 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. Rating: - 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.