Banker To The Poor is an autobiography of Muhammad Yunus winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. It is a fascinating story of a man that has changed the economic destiny of thousands. The book was recommended to me by an economics major during lunch at a Subway in Annapolis two years ago. We were on break during a certification class I was part of, and we ended up sitting together. Her interest in the subject was infectious so I put it on my wishlist, and at Christmas I received it as a gift.
I'll try to sum up the story line. Yunus' life is a bit like the fictional life of Forest Gump. In the movie Forest ended up being in the right place at the right time, and met amazing people and accomplished amazing things. That's a bit how Yunus' life turned out. He happened to be in the US when Bangladesh was winning it's independance from Pakistan, and subsequently gained noteriety as an ambassador of sorts for this new country. He became part of the government for a time, and taught at the country's university. He became bothered when all around him he saw the world's poorest, and all the economic theories and practices were doing nothing to help them. He began a research project to determine a way to help the Bangali poor. What he discovered has affected the world's poor. Through micro-lending, the act of lending small amounts to the poorest for business enterprise, he has found a way to change the future of many.
It only takes a few dollars in some parts of the world to set enterprising people, women mostly, on their way to provision. His bank Grameen has lent to many, and their approach has spread around the world, and has even been implemented in the USA. Micro-lending has become a legitimate form of economic theory.
This book was quite inspiring as it recounted this story of going against the odds, standing up to hostile banks, and NGOs to show them a better way to help the poor. Yunus' contribution to the world has been remarkable.
I recommend this book.
--Ben
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