Banker to the poor : micro-lending and the battle against world poverty /

Development finance has undergone intense reexamination in recent years and has drawn fire from many quarters, from environmentalists concerned about megaprojects undertaken in developing countries with heavy funding from international aid agencies, to observers objecting to waste and manipulation of development aid. Micro-lending, on the other hand, has been warmly received by just about all observers--very small loans made "where the rubber meets the road" in the small manufacturing, agricultural, and trade sectors of some of the world's poorest countries. This is the very personal story of one such initiative in Bangladesh, which has been praised by virtually all who have studied it--written by the person behind the whole project, Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank. It is a fascinating and compelling account by someone who decided to make a difference, and did. While an accounting of micro-lending and its contribution will have to await the judgment of history, there is no arguing that it represents one of the best options for dealing with finance at the lowest levels of economic development. This saga also demonstrates the extent to which the devil is in the details. It will appeal not only to the student of economic development but also to the head and heart of the general reader. All collections. I. Walter; New York University

Bangladesh, a country the size of Florida with a population of over 120 million people, is the home of Grameen Bank, the inspiration of economist Yunus, Bangladesh-born and U.S.-trained. Instead of spending his life as a university economics professor, Yunus decided in the mid-1970s to develop a micro-lending program to help the poorest people of his country. Yunus based the program on his strong belief that the very poor do not need complicated training programs to improve their economic lot. They need money, in the form of loans. This program has empowered thousands of peopleÄmany of them womenÄand surprised experts in economic development who never believed that the very poor would find the initiative and ability to repay even the smallest ($25-$500) loans. Grameen ("of the village") Bank has developed into an internationally acclaimed and replicated method for assisting the impoverished in Malaysia, the Philippines, Nepal, and even the United States. Definitely recommended for larger public and academic libraries.ÄOlga B. Wise, Compaq Computers, Austin (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.