BANKER TO THE POOR

This autobiography of the world-renowned, visionary economist who came up with a simple but revolutionary solution to end world poverty -micro-credit -has become the classic text for a growing movement. . In 1983 Muhammad Yunus established Grameen, a bank devoted to providing the poorest of Bangladesh with miniscule loans. He aimed to help the poor by supporting the spark of personal initiative and enterprise by which they could lift themselves out of poverty forever. It was an idea born on a day in 1976 when he loaned $27 from his own pocket to forty-two people living in a tiny village. They were stool makers who only needed enough credit to purchase the raw materials for their trade. Yunus's loan helped them break the cycle of poverty and changed their lives forever. His solution to world poverty, founded on the belief that credit is a fundamental human right, is brilliantly simple: loan poor people money on terms that are suitable to them, teach them a few sound financial principles, and they will help themselves. Yunus's theories work. Grameen Bank has provided 3. 8 billion dollars to 2. 4 million families in rural Bangladesh. Today, more than 250 institutions in nearly 100 countries operate micro-credit programs based on theGrameen methodology, placing Grameen at the forefront of a burgeoning world movement toward eradicating poverty through micro-lending.