The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank

by David Bornstein

The Price of a Dream tells the remarkable story of the Grameen Bank, the groundbreaking "village bank" that has revolutionized the way people around the world fight poverty. The Bank's model--providing collateral-free "micro-loans" for self-employment to millions of women villagers in
Bangladesh--has inspired and shaped the thinking of economists, policy makers, business people, development workers and a generation of social entrepreneurs. Both liberal and conservative policy circles have championed the Bank's ability to transform the lives of its clients and help them escape the
vicious cycle of deep economic hardship.
Drawing upon interviews with villagers, development workers, economists, and the Bank's founder Muhammad Yunus--a recipient of numerous humanitarian awards--the book shows how the Grameen Bank grew from an experiment in one village to an organization that lends billions of dollars in small
individual loans.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, Business, Biography, Poverty

370 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

David Bornstein specializes in writing about social innovation. He is the author of The Price of a Dream and How to Change the World, which has been published in 20 languages. His articles have appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times, and many other publications globally. He co-wrote the PBS documentary "To Our Credit." He is the founder of Dowser.org, a Web site devoted to uncovering stories of change. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Bridget · Rating 3 out of 5]

So inspiring! One person, one bold idea, and the lives of millions are improved!
I loved the idea of "socially conscious capitalism."!

[Lara Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just a great book. It focuses on the people involved in the start of the Grameen Bank and it becomes very obvious while there may have been a mastermind in Muhammad Yunus there were a lot of bright men & women involved in creating this wonder, and not "experts brought in from first world countries" but local people with various levels of education willing to give their all to make it work and help their people improve themselves.

It's interesting how the story can support both a conservative "pull yourself by your own bootstraps" worldview and a liberal "we need to help people" view. The individuals being helped had to work for it, pay the money back, and were accountable for their actions. Yet there was help from larger institutions, mainly making the money available for loans.

[Hilda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally finished this piece after being postponed reading it for almost two years. David Bornstein is a real story teller imo,- he eloquently captures the journey of Grameen Bank from time to time in different decades and smartly showcases what challenges and opportunities that came up in every cycle of Grameen's lives. For those who wants to learn the concept of social entrepreneurs in practice,- I will absolutely recommend this book.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone suggested this book to me and I really enjoyed it. What an inspiring story of how one person can help many! It also spoke about how "common wisdom or practice" may in fact be a part of the problem, not the solution. I also learned a lot about Bangladesh, a country which I knew little about.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I teach this book and it is a gem. David Bornstein spent 5 years in Bangladesh researching the beginnings and progress of the Grameen Bank, the world's most successful microenterprise organization, that lends small amounts of money to poor women and has helped millions emerge from poverty. David is a friend and a very gifted writer. Read just the first chapter - you will be hooked!

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Grameen Bank is an amazing project to learn about. This book not only explores the mission and operations of Grameen, but in a way that keeps you turning the pages and enjoying the book for the great work of non-fiction writing that it is.

[Mark Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yunus got a Nobel Peace Prize. Tremendous human and business story. "Business" in that the number dimensions or issues to be solved and integrated and designed into a solution is awe inspiring. "Human" in the scale of affect he has had on peoples' lives.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting balance of personal stories and organizational history. The bank has been around for ages now, but for some reason I didn't know a lot about it. A quick enjoyable read.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good history of the first microcredit institution.

[Daniel Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Price of a Dream was a good book showing how the Grameen Bank affects poor people. It includes testimonies and the process that has been made. It expresses the things what was done, and how it was done. It had lots of stories that proves each point the book is making.

The book was worth the time reading for it shows results and things to consider about economy. It also persuades readers how the Grameen Bank is effective than others. The testimonies help support the book it portrays. It also considers other factors like culture, government, and status which supports how the bank handles situations.

[Jamon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is slow at times, and I have been reading it off and on for the past year. It started strong but the challenges of a large bank in the story are not as gripping as how it began in the roots.
Microlending took 12 years to perfect until it got out of the equivalent of a state in Bangledash.
The author got a little politically preachy toward the end...whatever happened to objective writing?

[Lakipadada]

buku ini sangat keren untuk kondisi bangsa indonesia saat ini...

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

//

[Rahul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lengthier than expected, but provides excellent detailed insight into the workings and history of the Grameen Bank and some similar microenterprise solutions.

[DM · Rating 2 out of 5]

No analysis. Mostly un-ending praise for Yunus, but some interesting tidbits about internal politics at Grameen.

[Darel Preble]

Thoroughly enjoyed this very Encouraging book about the Grameen Bank and Muhammad Yunus who started it. Grameen has many imitators now, not surprisingly, since it is a wonderful idea. Yunus' five marvelous and major themes from the the history of Grameen bear repeating:

1 Credit should be accepted as a fundamental human right; Personally I would add that we also must include some mechanism to measure and encourage moral, trustworthy and ethical behavior, like FICA scores make some attempt to do...;
2 Self-employment is preferred over wage employment as a faster and more humane way to combat poverty;
3 Women should receive top priority in development efforts because they are most acutely affected by poverty and they are the primary caregivers of children.
4 The concept of "development" should be redefined as focused on the poorest 50 % of a
given population;
5 The conceptual vagueness of social developmental theorists should be replaced by specific proactive actions against poverty, such as publicly-financed mandatory education of boys and girls.