• A World of Three Zeros

  • The New Economics of Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, and Zero Net Carbon Emissions
  • By: Muhammad Yunus
  • Narrated by: Dan Woren
  • Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (129 ratings)

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A World of Three Zeros  By  cover art

A World of Three Zeros

By: Muhammad Yunus
Narrated by: Dan Woren
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Publisher's summary

A winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and best-selling author of Banker to the Poor offers his vision of an emerging new economic system that can save humankind and the planet

Muhammad Yunus, who created microcredit, invented social business, and earned a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in alleviating poverty, is one of today's most trenchant social critics. Now he declares it's time to admit that the capitalist engine is broken - that in its current form it inevitably leads to rampant inequality, massive unemployment, and environmental destruction. We need a new economic system that unleashes altruism as a creative force just as powerful as self-interest.

Is this a pipe dream? Not at all. In the last decade, thousands of people and organizations have already embraced Yunus's vision of a new form of capitalism, launching innovative social businesses designed to serve human needs rather than accumulate wealth. They are bringing solar energy to millions of homes in Bangladesh; turning thousands of unemployed young people into entrepreneurs through equity investments; financing female-owned businesses in cities across the United States; bringing mobility, shelter, and other services to the rural poor in France; and creating a global support network to help young entrepreneurs launch their start-ups.

In A World of Three Zeros, Yunus describes the new civilization emerging from the economic experiments his work has helped to inspire. He explains how global companies like McCain, Renault, Essilor, and Danone got involved with this new economic model through their own social action groups, describes the ingenious new financial tools now funding social businesses, and sketches the legal and regulatory changes needed to jumpstart the next wave of socially driven innovations. And he invites young people, business and political leaders, and ordinary citizens to join the movement and help create the better world we all dream of.

©2017 Muhammad Yunus (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"A book to make Wall Street quake." (Kirkus Reviews)

"With wealth disparity an ongoing global concern, Yunus's inspiring and hopeful message is a must-read for all readers with even a semblance of economic literacy." (Library Journal, starred)

What listeners say about A World of Three Zeros

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Amazing concept

Wow. This man is doing god’s work. Our society should be exalting real heroes like this rather than actors and athletes. The book itself is a little repetitive and not necessarily all that well written, but that’s a minor nit for a book that’s conveying such an important and innovative concept. I hope it catches on. I’ll certainly be spreading the word.

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Like Yunus ideas - beware hidden ego

I think the general idea of using business models to solve social issues is great.

I agree with the idea of evolving capitalism, but instead of having a second branch (Yunus’ so called social business) we would have capitalism internalize externalities. Otherwise we end up with some businesses destroying the planet and society so that social businesses come behind to fix them with the money created by profit maximizing businesses. This idea is flaw. I understand the transition to internalize all externalities might be slow and difficult.

The idea that everyone should be an entrepreneur is also short sighted. We need synergies and scale to be efficient. We should rather replicate and grow working solutions other than encouraging the heropreneurship syndrome.

Finally the supposedly selflessness is not such, behind it there is a huge ego that does things for pride if not for money, yet a selfish interest, that prevents synergies and collaboration.

There is no need to oppose making money to doing good. Humanity will only prosper if we can achieve both, and it is possible. The solution is not a parallel social business but having current institutions in all three sectors internalize as much as possible externalities. Transform governance and ownership to have them serve the cause and not the owners. Put engagement with the cause at the center of capital management and decision making.

Great to think we can expand capitalism instead of getting read of it. Yet many challenges in the basic concepts that tend to perpetuate a rich guy doing bad things to give money to a good guy who will alleviate poverty but not reduce the gap that will continue to remain the same if not grow.

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Great ideas a bit repetitive

Chapters are different in content and cases used as examples that's really interesting, nevertheless are a bit repetitive in the arguments...

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Read with Humanizing the Economy

The book presents a great intermediary idea between our existing unsustainable way of operating economically and a richer more vibrant future socioeconomic theory. Three Zeros left me optimistic that we can bridge our current cycles of inequality effectively enough to buy time to discover new ideas.

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wonderful

This book brings hope to billions of impoverished people around the world. It is a beacon calling out to the future of a world to come.

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good ideas, a little egotistical

It did bug me that Yunus presented his solutions as cure-alls. However, he convinced me that his ideas could make a big difference in the world once he got to social business funds.

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wonderful ideas

Wonderful ideas though expressed on a very lengthy manner for my taste.
What Yunus proposes could have a tremendous impact in solving many of the world's most complex problems.

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Un livre important pour changer le monde

Ce livre se classe aisément dans mon top 10 pour la qualité des enseignements, la richesse des exemples et la possibilité de les transposer dans ma communauté.

J’ai écouté le livre souvent munie de la version papier, ce qui me permettra de revenir aux importantes informations et de rallier les gens autour de certains projets.

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10/10

great for young entrepreneurs and a mindshifting book for all of us in order to help not by giving for free but to invest and trust in others to make this world a better place.

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Great book

The examples given in the book are fantastic and make this a great book. Informative & inspiring.

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