I’ve been watching for coverage of Muhammed Yunnus getting the Nobel Peace Prize – and am disappointed at the desultory results. But why should I be surprised? Yunnus isn’t glamorous or political particularly, just really smart, and really compassionate, and came up with an idea that has been making a difference in many very poor countries. As David Theroux head of the Independent Institute) writes below, his efforts have been great for the world’s poor by having provided a new paradigm, microcredit, whereby the truly, truly poor can begin to get ahead. David’s article follows:
THE LIGHTHOUSE
“Enlightening Ideas for Public Policy…”
Vol. 8, Issue 43; October 23, 2006
A GOOD CHOICE FOR THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE — AND THE WORLD’S POOR
When Muhammad Yunus founded the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh thirty years ago, he had loftier goals in mind than winning the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. He sought to alleviate poverty in poor countries by providing microcredit to small-scale, mom-and-pop entrepreneurs overlooked by traditional commercial banks, such as the family who needs a cow so they can sell milk, or the widow who needs a new loom for making textiles. By most accounts, his loan program has succeeded even where charitable giving and foreign aid have failed.
“The Nobel award to Yunus and Grameen Bank is a good occasion to reflect on the colossal error of judgment the rich have made about the poor and a reminder that enterprise, not aid, is the real answer to poverty,” writes Senior Fellow Alvaro Vargas Llosa, director of the Independent Institute’s Center on Global Prosperity, in his latest column for the Washington Post Writers Group.
The success of Yunus’s Grameen Bank (and similar efforts) can be greatly enhanced by cutting the bureaucratic red tape that hampers small-scale entrepreneurs in developing countries — as was suggested by the work of anthropologist William Mangin, who fifty years ago discovered bustling entrepreneurs in the shantytowns surrounding Lima, Peru. Writes Vargas Llosa: “I have been looking at case of entrepreneurial success around the world for the past year and the conclusion is overwhelming: The best way to fight poverty is to eliminate barriers that currently hold back private enterprise among the poor.”
“Lessons from the Poor,” by Alvaro Vargas Llosa (10/18/06)
LIBERTY FOR LATIN AMERICA: How to Undo Five Hundred Years of State Oppression, by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
Center on Global Prosperity (Alvaro Vargas Llosa, director)