A winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and bestselling author of Banker to the Poor offers his vision of an emerging new economic system that can save humankind and the planet
Muhammad Yunus, who created microcredit, invented social business, and earned a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in alleviating poverty, is one of today's most trenchant social critics. Now he declares it's time to admit that the capitalist engine is broken -- that in its current form it inevitably leads to rampant inequality, massive unemployment, and environmental destruction. We need a new economic system that unleashes altruism as a creative force just as powerful as self-interest.
Is this a pipe dream? Not at all. In the last decade, thousands of people and organizations have already embraced Yunus's vision of a new form of capitalism, launching innovative social businesses designed to serve human needs rather than accumulate wealth. They are bringing solar energy to millions of homes in Bangladesh; turning thousands of unemployed young people into entrepreneurs through equity investments; financing female-owned businesses in cities across the United States; bringing mobility, shelter, and other services to the rural poor in France; and creating a global support network to help young entrepreneurs launch their start-ups.
In A World of Three Zeros, Yunus describes the new civilization emerging from the economic experiments his work has helped to inspire. He explains how global companies like McCain, Renault, Essilor, and Danone got involved with this new economic model through their own social action groups, describes the ingenious new financial tools now funding social businesses, and sketches the legal and regulatory changes needed to jumpstart the next wave of socially driven innovations. And he invites young people, business and political leaders, and ordinary citizens to join the movement and help create the better world we all dream of.
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“Optimism permeates his argument that the capitalist system’s economic framework, driven by personal interest, is broken and must be redesigned…The book is packed with true-life examples, many from Yunus’ own experiences with Grameen Bank…[and] offers sound recommendations to distribute global wealth more equitably through individual and systemic support for small-scale entrepreneurship.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Confidence and idealism…come across in Dan Woren’s narration. His tonal and phrasing palette works well as Yunus, an activist Bangladeshi banker and economist, addresses global poverty through microlending and other forms of social capitalism.”
— AudioFile“Yunus pioneered the concept of microcredit in the 1970s and 1980s and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Since then he’s come to believe that capitalism today is broken. In his new book, Yunus makes the case for a new system, based on serving human needs, not maximizing profit, that should take its place.”
— Fortune“Yunus sets as goals eliminating poverty, unemployment, and environmental degradation. He demonstrates the possibilities of his vision with myriad examples…With wealth disparity an ongoing global concern, Yunus’ inspiring and hopeful message is a must-read for all readers with even a semblance of economic literacy.”
— Library Journal (starred review)“A book to make Wall Street quake—if Wall Street paid attention to the developing world…The author’s reforms, he insists, will yield an economic system that more closely corresponds to who humans really are: partners and not predators. The author’s humane proposal for economic reform, far from impractical, makes for provocative reading.”
— Kirkus ReviewsA book to make Wall Street quake.
— Kirkus ReviewsWith wealth disparity an ongoing global concern, Yunus's inspiring and hopeful message is a must-read for all readers with even a semblance of economic literacy."—Library Journal, starred
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Muhammad Yunus, a native of Bangladesh, was educated at Dhaka University and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study economics at Vanderbilt University. In 1972 he became head of the economics department at Chittagong University. He is the founder and managing director of Grameen Bank, a pioneer of microcredit, which an economic movement that has helped lift millions of families around the world out of poverty. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. He also received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama in 2009 and was named one of Fortune's 12 Greatest Entrepreneurs of Our Time in 2012.
Dan Woren is an American voice actor and Earphones Award–winning narrator. He has worked extensively in animation, video games, and feature films. He is best known for his many roles in anime productions such as Bleach and as the voice of Sub-Zero in the video game Mortal Kombat.