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I must say that I am converted. I honestly was moved to tears during my reading of the book. However, while I greatly admire Professor Yunus's aspiration and stature, his is not necessarily the best written kind of prose. It is not sentimental and the author is passionately optimistic in regards to the possibility that running non-profit endeavors, with the sole intention of the betterment of the destitute, and using a system that aims at efficiency, and through borrowing the concept of competition from the conventional market place, can solve the problem of poverty, at least slowly and gradually. Its essence is that we should encourage people to see that the meaning of life is greater than just profiting oneself and create incentives to prosper this engagement. There is a reasonable amount of repetition and at times perhaps there are too much details, for example. Saying this, I still highly recommend this because it is that kind of book that one wants to own even if one does not read it thoroughly.
But, Muhammad Yunus's Creating A World Without Poverty has eased these troubles. This initial dream of opportunity was supplanted by "the" American dream of the 1950s. This new dream was one of single-detached family units furnished with the latest gadgets, designer furniture, and, in the garage, a shiny automobile patiently awaiting the open road. And to this student of urban planning, this realization is deeply troubling. Ultimately, it is story of hope. Social business provides capitalism a mechanism to enter markets which would normally be closed off to profit maximizing firms. They were looking for the same employment opportunities that the city provided in the 1900s; however, these opportunities had fled to the newly formed suburbs. The bank makes small "micro" loans to the poor so that they can create and sustain their own small businesses.
As of October 2009, the recovery rate for these loans was 96.79%. Social business was the result. While this review has largely been theoretical and descriptive, Creating a World Without Poverty is anything but. In contrast to the initial dream, "the" American dream called many white American's away from the central city into the city's periphery, into suburbia.
American central cities and poverty are coincident. While the largely white urban population was moving out, African Americans migrated in. This was America's initial dream, a dream where an immigrant with no education and little financial resources could work in a grim factory environment so that their children could gain a decent education and escape the toil of factory life. Yunus, however, wanted to push this idea further. Immigrants from all over the world flocked to American cities so that they could trade their low-skilled labor for a living wage. The success of the bank is largely a testament to the validity of the universal entrepreneurial spirit. Without low-skilled jobs and little opportunity to increase their skill set, the city's new migrants were foreordained into persistent poverty.
One who believes in the universal entrepreneurial spirit believes that even the poor can become entrepreneurs and bring themselves out of poverty. Tangent to the social business's creation is the empowerment of the poverty stricken who are charged with operating and/or owning the social business. In the 1900s, center cities were America's economic engines. Essentially, social business is a "non-loss, non-dividend" company. The social business model does not entitle investors to any financial return; thus, the business can pursue under-served markets that offer minimal profit margins. The poor are empowered to create stable employment for themselves.
After all, poverty is merely a result of our capitalist system, but like all systems it can be improved upon, it can be rid of its imperfections. Yunus once again captures the minds and hearts of his readers by weaving a heartfelt-tale; a tale of happenstance, a tale of pure determination, a tale of the birth of an idea and the realization of it. Perhaps "the" dream was the consequence of the initial. Both results combine to positively impact the quality of life in the urban environment while banishing persistent poverty from it. At the core of Yunus's book, is the universal entrepreneurial spirit, a spirit that is viewed as exceptional in American culture. The book recounts Yunus's experience in developing and running the Grameen Bank.
Social business is an important idea for local economic development planners because it increases the poor's ability to participate in the global economy (social justice) and increases economic activity in the locality (economic growth). I would recommend his book to any urban planner interested lowering their city's poverty rate and to anyone else who is interested in putting poverty into museums
Well done, Professor Yunus. Visionary, practical, and desperately needed. A fascinating read, which would make an excellent textbook for every business school on the planet. This book is the product of a brilliant mind and a kind heart. For those who are jaded by news stories of boundless greed in the for-profit world, here is a revolutionary proposition. The story of Grameen Danone's joint venture to improve the nutrition of Bangladeshi children is profoundly touching. There is another gem woven into the chapter "Putting Poverty in Museums" (location 2700 in the Kindle version): an ingenious social business idea to provide affordable health insurance to all Americans who are uninsured.
In this book, he makes a strong case for how this goal is fully realizable with our present day resources and why work on this particular project should be given high priority, so that everybody has a fair chance to achieve their highest potential. As Prof. That which was most important for me in this book is, that the writer gives voice to a vision that he has held close to his heart for presumably decades. Products are sold at prices which make them self sustaining and all profits stay in the organization and used to finance expansion, create new products or services, and, in general, benefit society at large. This man is an institution by himself and that sheen of aura surrounds this book, the very theme of a professor of economics who shows hardened bankers and heads of financial institutions where to put their money is just too good to be true. Further, the reader is extolled to come forward with her/his own vision of the future, so that the best of all worlds can come together and serve as a beacon for even further progress.A basic building block of this vision is the concept of a social business. In his conclusion, the author gives a detailed discussion of how his ideas on microcredit have been implemented all over the world and the benefits and pitfalls that have resulted in their wake.
A chapter on the "hazards of prosperity" in developed countries with welfare is also included.For me, a novice, the book has been a joy to read. It is the vision of a poverty free world.Building on the impact of the 2006 Nobel recognition of the enormous effort over half a lifetime, involving the several Grameen institutions, he spells out his long held vision of a world, "where poverty is relegated to the museums of the world". Yunus himself puts it, "God is in the details". It is a business that pays no dividends. To this effect, the author recounts how the concept of the social business was first tested with the collaboration of the Grameen in Bangladesh with the French Danone concern to produce a yoghurt called "Shokti Doi", a product designed to provide proper nourishment to children living in poverty.The author provides a detailed account of the various ramifications of the Grameen organizations, and there are many, healthcare, telecom services, information technology, education and textiles, to name a few. One feels tremendous respect for the man, his creativity, his scholarship, and above all, his superhuman self confidence in refusing to accept financial help from funding agencies and go his own way, despite intense pressure from the government. Then, of course, there are the genuine experts, who may have genuine disagreements with some of the concepts put forward.I strongly recommend the book if only to open up a window to a wide vista of possibilities.
Inspirational. Covers the Grameen Bank story, but then moves into the future, defining a third alternative to the false choice of for-profit vs non-profit: "social business", which combines the best features of both for- and non-profits. A must read for social entrepreneurs in general, and those interested in microfinance in particular.
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