Creating a World Without Poverty

Customer Reviews

• 5 out of 5
  
  
  by Real Supergirl from Brighton, MA | Jan 21, 2008
  

  Excellent book. Yunus is an inspiring man. I know nothing about economics yet I was able to understand this book, and it has helped me clarify for myself what kind of business I would like to run someday - a social business.
  
  Basically, it presents a new model for social services - building organizations that do good work without relying on grants that may or may not be there from year to year, and which have as their chief goal to become self-sustaining. Their goal is to make money, but not maximize profit. It's pretty simple yet radical.

  
  
   1 people found this review helpful
  
  

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• 3 out of 5
  
  
  by Kevin from London, NC, The United Kingdom | Apr 30, 2009
  

  This was very interesting. Yunus brings forth the idea of running a sustainable business for the express benefit of society, rather than shareholders. The main principle of the book is that, instead of running a business as a profit-maximizing business, a business could be run (he doesn't go as far as to say that all businesses _should_ be run this way, which is probably a smart move) as a social-benefit-maximizing business. Investors would get no dividends or return on their money, they would just eventually get their money back (therefore earning them a negative real return due to inflation). Although I have serious doubts about his assertion that social businesses are the "Future of Capitalism," I find them interesting and think they definitely have a place in the business realm, especially for people who are more concerned about doing good with their money than their money doing good for them. All-in-all I enjoyed it, and would recommend it.
  
  The issues I have with the concept come from a number of books on irrational behavior that I've read (namely Sway and Predictably Irrational), which show studies that show that humans are much more willing to give their time when there is no monetary reward involved. I feel this would have a close correlation to the concept of charity-giving vs investing, in that once the business aspect of it comes into play, people will have a natural (and subconscious) response that will reduce their likelihood of investing in a social business, as it now becomes partially a business issue, whereas a charitable donation is always simply a "feel-good" issue, and business doesn't come into it as you never expect to see that money again. Further, people who give to charity for the feel-good factor as well as the tax advantages will have to forego the tax benefits as investments are most certainly not tax-deductible.
  
  Despite these concerns, it is a viable concept and can be considerably more effective than your traditional charity (as a dollar invested will continue to sustain the business and help people, whereas a dollar donated has a one-use policy)

  
  

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• 2 out of 5
  
  
  by Marcus from The United States | Sep 12, 2009
  

  This book has several 5 star ideas, but ultimately is too long in it's prose. Dr. Yunus , Nobel Prize winner, describes his concept of a "Social Business" in this book. A social business operates exactly as a for profit entity, but has social goals rather than a goal of maximizing profit. To facilitate this all investors agree to receive only their original capital back after which the business pays no further dividends and reinvests all its' profits into it's social goals. I find this an intriguing idea as this construct is superior to a standard charity since it is perpetual and it's growth is determined by it's management instead of fund raising. I felt the descriptions of a social business stock exchange were somewhat far fetched, as I am not sure how one would value a social business since it has no dividend stream.
  
  The book contains a heartwarming story of Grameen Danone a JV between Grameen Bank and Danone to improve nutrition of poor children by creating a food which is inexpensive and nutritious. I think that Social Business is a powerful idea and I hope that it can be applied successfully such as Dr. Yunus has done with Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.

  
  

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• 5 out of 5
  
  
  by Lexi from Lansing, MI | Jul 21, 2009
  

  Read this actually a few months ago, but was reminded of it from a tweet this morning. The book is solid. A good idea, well-described, in language a non-economist can understand. Yunus is looking to bridge the innovation and efficiency of for-profit business with the social-improvement mission of the non-profit sector. I say: It's about freaking time!! No, business models can't solve everything (but you can expect Yunus to think so as a Nobel Winning Ecnomist and founder of the Grameen Bank), but Yunus conceives of a business model which can, in the right context, combine profitability with helping the poor, solving social problems, and changing the world for the better. BTW, he is pulling all this off in more than a dozen companies in Bangladesh and beyond, so it's not all pipe dreams.
  
  I highly recommend this book!

  
  

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• 4 out of 5
  
  
  by Alfian from Pekanbaru, Indonesia | Aug 17, 2008
  

  Dunia tanpa kemiskinan adalah sebuah kemustahilan, tetapi dunia tanpa problem kemiskinan adalah sebuah keniscayaan. Muhammad Yunus dalam buku ini, sama seperti buku-bukunya yang lain, memberi solusi-solusi yang sangat masuk akal untuk mengatasi berbagai permasalahan kemiskinan dan kemelaratan itu.

  
  
   1 people found this review helpful
  
  

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