Creating a World Without Poverty

November 26, 2007
Economics professor Yunus claims he “originally became involved in the poverty issue not as a policy-maker, scholar, or researcher, but because poverty was all around me.†With these words he stopped teaching “elegant theories†and began lending small amounts of money, $40 or less, without collateral, to the poorest women in the world. Thirty-three years later, the Grameen Bank has helped seven million people live better lives building businesses to serve the poor. The bank is solidly profitable, with a 98.6% repayment rate. It inspired the micro-credit movement, which has helped 100 million of the poorest people in the world escape poverty and earned Yunus (Banker to the Poor
) a Nobel Peace prize. This volume efficiently recounts the story of microcredit, then discusses “Social Business,†organizations designed to help people while turning profits. French food giant Danone’s partnership to market yogurt in Bangladesh is described in detail, along with 25 other businesses that operate under the Grameen banner. Infused with entrepreneurial spirit and the excitement of a worthy challenge, this book is the opposite of pessimistic recitals of intractable poverty’s horrors.

December 31, 2007
While many capitalists are comfortable with letting those on the bottom rung of the socioeconomic ladder waste away in misery, Nobel Peace Prize-winning Yunus and others are coming up with ways to help the impoverished elevate themselves out of squalor. As one of the originators of micro-lending, with his creation of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh 30 years ago, Yunus promotes a new enterprise called "social business." Using the alliance of Grameen Bank and the Dannon Company as a model, he explains how a new mode of business could result in unique and improved ways to help poor people. Patrick Lawlor's deliberateness and emphasis help navigate listeners through text that could have been confusing. Sometimes, his rendering of the text sounds a bit condescending and often his accents feel a bit too much like vocal caricatures. Overall, though, his performance works well with the material and is only hindered by poor sound editing, including several vocal shifts and occasionally repeated lines. Simultaneous release with the Public Affairs hardcover (Reviews, Nov. 26).