Awards
Second prize, World Hunger Year Harry Chapin Media Awards
Finalist, New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism
Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
"This book is so well written, and so packed with stories that no one will believe that it is a treatise on development economics. The story of the Grameen Bank has never been better told. It should be compulsory reading in every development agency, and in every North American program to aid the urban poor." Jill Ker Conway, author of The Road from Coorain and True North
Review
"If there is one man who has achieved stardom of sorts at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women [September 1995], it is [Muhammad Yunus] who wandered into a desperately poor village...and got an idea that is changing the face of banking." New York Times
Synopsis
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.
About the Author
David Bornstein is a journalist who has written articles for Atlantic Monthly, Details, Newsday, and Science. He is author of How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, which was described by the New York Times as "must reading" for "anyone who cares about building a more equitable and therefore a more stable world."