Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty

This truly enlightening account will give you a whole new perspective on giving the poor a hand up instead of a hand out.

I must have been living under a rock - I picked this book on a whim, not having a clue about Dr. Yunus, who won a Nobel prize for the work he has done in empowering the poor.

It takes a powerful argument to chance the way I think about a subject. I'm a free market capitalist to the core yet I've always known there were certain weaknesses in the system which could give greed a toe hold. Yunus developed a capitalist economy with a social conscience. If he had outlined his ideas in a presentation I would have rejected them as "blue sky" idealism. But he has several billion dollars worth of credibility. It is difficult to argue with success like that!

After listening through (twice so far, it's on my regular re-listen list) I'm actually changing the way I view economics and am working to become a part of this solution that he's created.

Yunus describes the history and operation of Grameen and microcredit in general in simple, effective terms while consistently projecting his passion for the process and his frustration with the global banking system for not seeing its potential. This is no dull economics lecture but a lively human tale of dedication and commitment, with many real-world examples. It was published before the Nobel Prize announcement but you can sense that Yunus is a real game-changer.

Ray Porter (narrator) does a nice job on communicating the passion (almost anger at times), and handling the Bengali pronunciation.

Highly recommended, you'll believe that one man can change the world.

I loved it, a little bit too long but amazing topic, well written, fantastic narrator

This is a great story of successful, innovative development in the poorest corners of the world. One can't help but be inspired by Yunus' accomplishments. But the narrator hectors the reader like a middle school vice principal scolding a truant. I have seen the author on television and he comes off as a genial, humble person. Somehow that personality got lost in the reading. It's still worth a listen, though, because Yunus has much to teach us about alleviating poverty and despair. He's a true hero.

Professor Yunus works are inspiring especially to those who cares for less fortunate ones. I could not shut off my ipod until I heard the whole narative. Excellent writing and narration.

This book is recommended to those who dream of a better future for all man kind. " In educated society povertiy should be found in museums where we could tell our children, why and how our ancestors let it infest us for centuries."

I enjoyed this book. It shows what someone can do with a good idea and persistence. It was very inspiring.

This is a wonderful book that illuminates life (especially for women) in one of the poorest countries of the world, and one man's largely successful struggle to change things. He exaggerates and misstates some things, but everybody with a conscience should read it.

This is a must-read for anyone wishing to gain insights into how the poor of the world really live, and to at least one way that can make a difference in their lives (the answer's not charitable hand-outs).
Neither a ringing endorsement of the virtues of capitalism, nor a socialist idealist picture of the world as it should be. The work of Professor Yunus represents a pragmatic and proven effective way of making the world a better place.
Read this book, get inspired, and take action (if only to reduce the amount of ignorance in the universe of how much impoverished people of the world suffer and how some can be helped).

Yes, listened while driving to pick up my new small business.

Turns the standard economic paradiams upside down starts over and changes lives. Adam Smith and Marx would both love it.

The concept that is brought across is very interesting and a different view on helping the poor. I found the book went on a bit. I got the book to hear about the concept that Muhammad Yunus came up with and half way through the book the concept had mostly been covered, if you wanting to find out about his life then the entire book will be of use to you.