The fact that an economist receives the Nobel Peace Prize, instead of the Nobel Prize in Economics is a first. The fact that Mr. Yunus is not a political leader is significant, but why this news is enough to help relief my headache, to give me a little hope in a week full of failures and scandals is beyond the ordinary.
Mr. Yunus returned from the US after his doctorate in Economics when the famine struck Bangladesh. While he was teaching Economics, he could clearly see that all the theories that could supposedly cure the societal problems failed because it did not address the real life economics of a poor person's existence.
He approached the people of a village near the University as to how he could help them and discovered that their biggest problem was that they were so heavily indebted to the moneylenders.
The moneylenders were charging exorbitant rates of interest that were multiplying the outstanding amount exponentially beyond the paying capacity of the poor villagers, and with nothing to use as collateral the poor have no way out.
Professor Yunus offered to provide his own personal funds so that they could pay their debt. So far, it is a charity story, but this is only the beginning!
To his utter surprise, he found that the villagers paid back the full amount, and his idea of micro loans and banking for the poor was born.
http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/meet/yunus.html
The Grameen Bank, which he established in 1976 during the famine, has lent since then almost five billion in amounts as low as twelve dollars to Bangladeshis to buy such things as sewing machines, animals or materials to make baskets.
The bank's ninety-eight per cent repayment rate far exceeds traditional banks', which is eighty per cent.
In this simple story, there are many winners. Mr. Yunus is an obvious one as a human he believed that the poor people are not lazy but people like us that need a fresh start, he trusted them and they succeeded.
The poor people are winners, as they took their lives in their hands became independent sent their kids to schools and provided for their families.
The society is a big winner, with no education and no stable income the potential of creating a criminal, an illegal immigrant, a hit man, a drug dealer or even a terrorist becomes likely. Instead, the society did not create jails but gained full contributing and productive citizens.
Another unlikely winner is the committee responsible for the prize, it showed with the selection that the world is starting to realize that no weapons can create peace only a fair society that take care of the disadvantage can live in peace.
On one hand, a single Abrams tank cost five hundred and fifty millions; the development cost of the Stealth fighter planes is 28.7 billion dollars.
On the other hand, the unemployment rate in Iraq is over fifty percent as of 2005 when the environment was less violent. The population below the poverty line in the occupied territory is above 60% as of 2003. The number of prisoners held in Federal or State prisons or in local jails in America stood at 2,186,230 as of 2005.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/19/AR2005061900729.html
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/ciagaza.html
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/prisons.htm
Is it too much to dream that a Yunus will come to America?
That the price of a single Abrams tank can pay for thousands of families to start new life in Gaza, the west bank or Baghdad.
That the budget for building a wall on the border with Mexico will become hundreds of macro loans to help poor Mexicans live and work in their country.
Is it too much to dream that a Yunus can fight global terrorism, end local crime and solve the illegal immigration dilemma?
Mr. Yunus returned from the US after his doctorate in Economics when the famine struck Bangladesh. While he was teaching Economics, he could clearly see that all the theories that could supposedly cure the societal problems failed because it did not address the real life economics of a poor person's existence.
He approached the people of a village near the University as to how he could help them and discovered that their biggest problem was that they were so heavily indebted to the moneylenders.
The moneylenders were charging exorbitant rates of interest that were multiplying the outstanding amount exponentially beyond the paying capacity of the poor villagers, and with nothing to use as collateral the poor have no way out.
Professor Yunus offered to provide his own personal funds so that they could pay their debt. So far, it is a charity story, but this is only the beginning!
http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/meet/yunus.html
The Grameen Bank, which he established in 1976 during the famine, has lent since then almost five billion in amounts as low as twelve dollars to Bangladeshis to buy such things as sewing machines, animals or materials to make baskets.
The bank's ninety-eight per cent repayment rate far exceeds traditional banks', which is eighty per cent.
In this simple story, there are many winners. Mr. Yunus is an obvious one as a human he believed that the poor people are not lazy but people like us that need a fresh start, he trusted them and they succeeded.
The poor people are winners, as they took their lives in their hands became independent sent their kids to schools and provided for their families.
The society is a big winner, with no education and no stable income the potential of creating a criminal, an illegal immigrant, a hit man, a drug dealer or even a terrorist becomes likely. Instead, the society did not create jails but gained full contributing and productive citizens.
Another unlikely winner is the committee responsible for the prize, it showed with the selection that the world is starting to realize that no weapons can create peace only a fair society that take care of the disadvantage can live in peace.
On one hand, a single Abrams tank cost five hundred and fifty millions; the development cost of the Stealth fighter planes is 28.7 billion dollars.
On the other hand, the unemployment rate in Iraq is over fifty percent as of 2005 when the environment was less violent. The population below the poverty line in the occupied territory is above 60% as of 2003. The number of prisoners held in Federal or State prisons or in local jails in America stood at 2,186,230 as of 2005.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/19/AR2005061900729.html
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/ciagaza.html
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/prisons.htm
Is it too much to dream that a Yunus will come to America?
That the price of a single Abrams tank can pay for thousands of families to start new life in Gaza, the west bank or Baghdad.
That the budget for building a wall on the border with Mexico will become hundreds of macro loans to help poor Mexicans live and work in their country.
Is it too much to dream that a Yunus can fight global terrorism, end local crime and solve the illegal immigration dilemma?
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