[Book Review] Muhammad Yunus: Creating a World without Poverty

from The New Nation

Rashidul Bari

When I asked Jerald Posman, the Vice President of CUNY York College and columnist of New York Times, to make a comment about Muhammad Yunus, he replied, "Nobody did as much to empowering women as Muhammad Yunus. He is a symbol of icon in women empowering movement". My sentiments are as same as Prof. Posman when it comes to the contribution of Yunus' to changing women's lives. In his new book, Creating a World without Poverty Yunus tales the tale of a movement started forty years ago which changed millions of women' lives.

In his new book, Creating a World without Poverty Yunus outlines his vision for a new business model that combines the power of free markets with the mission which could make a compassionate world -especially for women. In the past three decades, free markets have swept the globe, bringing with them enormous potential for positive change. But traditional capitalism cannot solve problems such as inequality and poverty, because it is held back by a narrow view of human nature in which people are unsophisticated beings understand nothing but profit. However, Yunus' believes that human beings are more than money making machine. According to Yunus, human beings have many other drives and passions, such as sacredness, the societal sense of humour, and the philanthropic compassion. Welcome to the Yunus' world where the imaginative vision of the entrepreneur is applied to solve the serious problems such as reducing poverty, improving education, housing the homeless, healing the sick, and protecting the planet from CO2 emissions.

Creating a World Without Poverty tells the tale of Grameen Bank, and how it changed millions of women lives in so little time. It discloses the next stage in a hopeful economic and social revolution that is already under way and in the worldwide effort to abolish poverty by unleashing the philanthropic part of human beings.

In this book, the 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate sketches his vision for a new business model that combines the power of free markets with the mission for a more benevolent world and tells the inspiring stories of companies that are doing this work today. In the last three decades, free markets have flounced the globe, bringing with them enormous potential for positive change. Yunus believes that the traditional capitalism cannot solve the human fundamental tribulations such as inequality and poverty, because it is held back by few billionaires who understand nothing but making money.

Prof. Posman writes, "micro-credit is not about money, it is about unleashing the most abundant and least utilised resource in the world today - human potential. It is about providing an opportunity for every person - especially woman- to become self-sufficient, personally responsible and creative and Yunus is the father of this movement. "I read Banker to the Poor years ago and I just placed an order for the new book from Barns & Noble. I am eagerly waiting to read this book" Prof. Posman told me in an interview-who will bring Yunus at York College on February 11, 2008 to kick off Muhammad Yunus International Scholarship which enable five children of Grameen members each year for the next four years to be given full four-year scholarships to study at CUNY York College.

Yunus was born in a rural village called Bethoea in Bangladesh. He earned Ph. D in Economics from Vanderbilt University as Fulbright Scholar. In 1974-, when he was a head of the economics department at Chittagong University - Bangladesh went through a devastating famine which led Yunus loaned $27 to forty-two stool makers living in a tiny village. This small loan helped these women break the cycle of poverty forever. In 1983, he found Grameen Bank, a pioneer of micro-credit, an economic movement that has helped lift millions of families around the world out of poverty. The Grameen movement has now spread to nearly 100 countries. In 2006 Yunus was awarded the Nobel Prize.

Yunus new book Creating a World without Poverty is coming out on December 31, 2007. Perseus Publishing, one of the leading book publishers of the United States, publishing this book. Yunus will make a month long book tour throughout the United States to promote his book. "Yunus is coming to Barnss & Noble at Union Squire to sign Creating a World without Poverty on January 23, at 7 pm" said Steven Harvey, its media manger.

(Rashidul Bari is a Bangladeshi born writer based in the United States. He is an author of 25 books-and biographer of Muhammad Yunus. His website is: www.rashidulbari.info)