Over the last few decades, free markets have swept the globe and brought positive change. Nevertheless, traditional capitalism cannot solve problems of inequality and poverty because of its view of people as one-dimensional beings concerned only with profit. In fact, human beings have many other drives and passions, including spiritual, social, and altruistic.
Welcome to the world of social business, where the creative vision of the entrepreneur is applied to today's most serious problems: feeding the poor, housing the homeless, healing the sick, and protecting the planet. Creating a World without Poverty tells the stories of some of the earliest examples of social businesses, including Yunus' own Grameen Bank. It reveals the next phase in an economic and social revolution that is already underway and in the worldwide effort to eliminate poverty by unleashing the productive energy of every human being.
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"Muhammad Yunos is the ultimate inspiration to me. I really love and respect what he is about and his words drive passion within me to continue my mission in the world. An excellent practical book outlining what a social business is, why they are important and why they are the future of capitalism."
— Sloane (5 out of 5 stars)
“The influential economist and winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize outlines his vision for a new business model that combines the power of free markets with the quest for a more humane world.”
— Bookseller (UK)“Muhammad Yunus argues convincingly that social business is an achievable way of exploiting capitalism to help the poor. Yunus moves the debate beyond the tired argument that the rich should simply donate to those less privileged, and demonstrates that the free market can in fact be used to the advantage of the less well off...This book is a must-read for policymakers or philanthropists, and its conversational style and straightforward logic also make it appealing to the layperson.”
— Scotland on Sunday“In this excellent work of popular economics, he tells the story of how he came to the idea and the impressive results it has generated.”
— Winnipeg Free Press“Infused with entrepreneurial spirit and the excitement of a worthy challenge, this book is the opposite of pessimistic recitals of intractable poverty's horrors.”
— Publishers Weekly" Inspiring and full of good ideas - his Nobel Speech is included in the epilogue, which sums up his work and beliefs quite nicely. "
— Kim, 2/16/2014" Found this book to be very inspiring. It is amazing what he has done. Gives hope that it can be done elsewhere if people approach the solutions with the right attitude. "
— Mylinda, 2/15/2014" Great concept. Love the meat of the book, but OY! pedestrian writing. Such a good idea should have a better representative (Yunus didn't write it....)! "
— Paula, 2/12/2014" Very inspiring- microcredit and social business. Audio has mistakes though. "
— Laura, 2/8/2014" A Caridade ser lucrativa!de po "
— Naves, 1/26/2014" Portrays Muhammad Yunus vision of a new economic/business model: a social business. It was a good and inspiring read but I feels its still too general, still a lot of details missing, but does give you the direction/inspiration on how to proceed. "
— Rahmad, 1/20/2014" This was based on deep truth and real speculation-how could it be that easy to remove poverty?I guess I am one of the naysayers maybe part of the problem. I will work on whatever. "
— Kara, 1/18/2014" Micro loans. Let the people out from middle managment!! "
— Charles, 1/7/2014" I was glad to read this - thought provoking to say the least. "
— Diana, 12/23/2013" Stood in line. Got the signature. Very happy! Read Banker to the Poor so I have that background on Grameen bank story...I'm reading this one with special interest in his discussion of a "social business". "
— Julie, 11/19/2013" What a brilliant idea. "
— roland, 11/9/2013" Very interesting and important topic. But it was slow at times. "
— Sarah, 10/11/2013" This book created a framework for the kind of businesses I intend to build. Love his vision. "
— Kim, 10/7/2013" This book should be mandatory in colleges/graduate schools. Social business is definitely a visionary concept. Yunus is a true good person, he devoted his entire life taking people out of poverty. He is inspiring and worth listening to. Finally someone who thinks more than one step ahead! "
— Amaury, 8/19/2013" Astounding what one clear-thinking man can accomplish! "
— Debby, 7/16/2013" Promoting economic development is a powerful path out of poverty. With the global crisis of economic orphans and intractable poverty continues to explode Yunus provides an elegantly simple and sustainable approach to turning the tide. "
— Maureen, 4/6/2013" semangat di awal, terngantuk2 di pertengahan, tercerahkan di akhir buku..lumayan lah :D "
— Killingtime, 3/16/2013" Although this book is a little hard to read at some with all the economic terms and language, it's brilliant and amazing. A definite must read no matter where you are on the political spectrum, if you care at all about eliminating poverty from our world. "
— Laura, 1/26/2013" It's not the best-written book, but Yunus' argument and ideas are breathtakingly inspiring. I wake up every morning now wracking my brains for a germ of an idea that could create a social business that could improve the lives of those around me. Add that to the bucket list (shortlist it, too). "
— Dave, 9/17/2012" Very informative and well written. I like Yunus' idea of creating Social Businesses that apply capitalism to helping the poor. "
— Tamsin, 9/10/2012" where to even begin... "
— Sam, 8/6/2012" By one of my heroes, founder of the Grameen Bank. A bit simplistic, but a good overview of his work, how he got started, and how the movement has mushroomed. "
— Rebecca, 4/29/2012" While his ideas on ridding the world of poverty are very idealistic, it is refreshing to read about a socially beneficial twist to a money-hungry industry. "
— Nessreen, 2/2/2012" While I really like the concept of "Social Business", and greatly respect Dr. Yunus, I didn't really like the writing style, and didn't end up finishing the book. "
— Jeremy, 1/11/2012" Fair interpretation from author's point of view. Otherwise, not extremely appealing. "
— Justine, 11/27/2011" While his ideas on ridding the world of poverty are very idealistic, it is refreshing to read about a socially beneficial twist to a money-hungry industry. "
— Nessreen, 5/16/2011" It's got a great idea of the social business behind but I found that he tended to be a lot idealistic towards the end. Poverty in the museums? "
— Janeen, 4/1/2011" A book about social entrepreneurship and social business. Yunus describes his journey as a pioneer in the space of helping the poor through business creation and innovation. A great read and a big hats off to Muhammad Yunus for beginning such a powerful movement and one that I admire greatly. "
— Dan, 1/3/2011" it's really hard not to be influenced by all the scandal now surrounding Yunus when reading this. I wanted to be more inspired than I ultimately was, I geuss. "
— Elisa, 12/24/2010" Highly ambitious and inspiring but a little too pie in the sky for my taste. The concept of the social business itself is really interesting though. "
— Conchita, 11/18/2010" This was based on deep truth and real speculation-how could it be that easy to remove poverty?I guess I am one of the naysayers maybe part of the problem. I will work on whatever. "
— Kara, 9/11/2010" Not a corporation, not a non-profit. Totally new and inspiring. Putting the power directly into the hands of the disenfranchised. This book changed my life - I want to start a social business in the future. "
— Erin, 7/18/2010" A Caridade ser lucrativa!de po "
— Naves, 7/8/2010Muhammad 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.
Patrick Lawlor, an award-winning narrator, is also an accomplished stage actor, director, and combat choreographer. He has worked extensively off Broadway and has been an actor and stuntman in both film and television. He has been an Audie Award finalist multiple times and has garnered several AudioFile Earphones Awards, a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award, and many starred audio reviews from Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews.