Editorial Review

It began with a simple $27 loan. After witnessing the cycle of poverty that kept many poor women enslaved to high-interest loan sharks in Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus lent money to 42 women so they could purchase bamboo to make and sell stools. In a short time, the women were able to repay the loans while continuing to support themselves and their families. With that initial eye-opening success, the seeds of the Grameen Bank, and the concept of microcredit, were planted.Read more

Reviews (20)

Straight from the Founder
If you are interested in microfinance, this book is a prerequisite.Dr. Yunus gives a historical account of the rise of micro-credit and the Grameen Bank.Of course, he is also the biggest advocate of the program.Therefore, most of his arguments are pro-expansion of micro-credit.In spite of this, he manages to show a clear and compelling picture of the micro-finance industry.But, make sure you balance the information with other microfinance books that does not proselytize as much.A good example is "Beyond Micro-Credit" by Thomas Fisher.
Great book!
Yunus tells a great story about his bank and its battle against poverty.Outstanding business model for someone interested in micro lending.

a must read
This was an absolutely amazing book.It has given me renewed hope that poverty can be eliminated from this earth and will redirect my contribution dollars.I am heartened by what one man could accomplish through his own initiatives.A must read for all economists and humanitarians. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Banks & Banking    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Business    4. Development - Economic Development    5. Political Science    6. Politics/International Relations    7. Public Policy - Economic Policy    8. Biography: general    9. Development economics   

Editorial Review

What do the Honda Supercub, Intel's 8088 processor, and hydraulic excavators have in common? They are all examples of disruptive technologies that helped to redefine the competitive landscape of their respective markets. These products did not come about as the result of successful companies carrying out sound business practices in established markets. In Read more

Reviews (140)

Mind-Expanding
This is one of the best -- and scariest -- business books I've ever read. Christensen clearly illustrates why many of the 'tried and true' formulas really don't work. His research is compelling and is presented clearly enough for non-technical readers. I can't recommend this book highly enough!

Counterintuitive, well-supported, and powerful
This text excels on several levels:It is very readable, and tells a story which is understandable and compelling even at a cursory pace.For the motivated reader, digging deeper, especially spending time on the introduction and each chapter's endnotes, there is a huge amount of data and insight into that data that is well-structured for assimilation.Finally, the theories presented, once understood, become both a lens for interpreting past and current market dynamics, and set the stage for deployable actions in a number of industries.

It must have been mistaken identitiy...
During fourth of july vacation, I had a chsance to see an old college friend, who is a vice president for a large computer hard drive firm... he was showing offf his new Toyota hybrid when we began talking about the market forces, which interfered with large companies responding to the emerging needs and changes in the marketplace.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Creative ability in business    5. Customer services    6. Development - Economic Development    7. Economics - General    8. Economics - Theory    9. Entrepreneurship    10. Industrial management    11. Management - General    12. Success in business    13. Business & Economics / Economics / General    14. Reading Group Guide   

Editorial Review

Celebrated economist Jeffrey Sachs has a plan to eliminate extreme poverty around the world by 2025. If you think that is too ambitious or wildly unrealistic, you need to read this book. His focus is on the one billion poorest individuals around the world who are caught in a poverty trap of disease, physical isolation, environmental stress, political instability, and lack of access to capital, technology, medicine, and education. The goal is to help these people reach the first rung on the "ladder of economic development" so they can rise above mere subsistence level and achieve some control over their economic futures and their lives. To do this, Sachs proposes nine specific steps, which he explains in great detail in Read more

Reviews (14)

At least it got people talking about global economics...
I really wanted to love this book. It came strongly recommended by a good friend who is very interested in development work.Whenever I read a review I always try and figure out what angle the reviewer is coming from, so for the record I'm deeply interested in development work and I have a background in economics and environmental science, but mostly I'm just really well read.
why we lost the poor
The End of Poverty is an excellent book. It shows how economic thinking can provide a better wealth situation in the underdeveloped world. Jeffrey Sachs describes his last twenty years on development economics. He is the driving force behind the mayor developments in Bolivia and Poland. The book contains his experiences in Bolivia, Poland and Russia. If you introduce economic measures in these countries you can take a big step to let the people help themselves. But if you go to Africa, it seams that these measures are really not the first aid you can give them.
Historic Opportunity for Our Generation
Through clear illustrations and calculations, Jeffrey Sachs lays out a very optimistic and compelling argument that extreme poverty can be ended within our generation. Two major requirements of this plan are the rich nation's commitment to debt relief and their honoring of their promises to dedicate a meager 0.7% of GNP to Official Development Assistance (ODA). If properly invested in infrastructure, health, and education (a topic well covered in the book), these funds could put the extremely poor back on the economic ladder towards growth and development. Sachs sites numerous success stories such as the Marshall Plan and the eradication of African River Blindness and Smallpox where sufficient funding and dedication successfully accomplished development objectives.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Developing countries    3. Development - Economic Development    4. Economic assistance    5. Economic conditions    6. Economics - General    7. Economics Of Developing Countries    8. Poverty    9. Public Policy - Economic Policy    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. Third World Development    13. Business & Economics / Economic Conditions   

Reviews (21)

Some Really Good Points.
According to the author economics is in the midst of a revolution. But economics is always in the midst of a revolution. There's the old saying that if you take a thousand economists and lay them in a line that they will all point in a different direction. Yes, there are new economists challenging the field's traditional assumptions. But that's how you get your Ph.D. in economics.
A lot of intrinsic value but...
I bought the book initially because the economist issued an article commenting it which draw my interest. Quite honestly, I was surprised to see that it is basically a compilation of works, essays and academic papers defying orthodox finance and economics viewpoints rather than groundbreaking material. Throughout the book, the author cites many heavyweights in different sciences to augment his thesis of a new paradigm in economics along with the typical historical retrospective on economics, from Adam Smith to Samuelson and beyond which serves the purpose of claiming economics is locked in its own on intellectual embargo.
Ambitious survey; flawed logic
Scattered throughout The Origin of Wealth is a five star survey of new ideas in economics, incorporating discoveries from science and psychology.Unfortunately, in the end, the book is undone by Beinhocker's unfortunate habit of stating hypotheses and non sequiturs as facts, and his continuous harping on "Traditional" economics (and "Traditional" finance) as obsolete and irrelevant.Also, the book is quite uneven in the amount of detail presented; there's too much sometimes (which is tedious), and too little other times (which is frustrating).I really wanted to be able to give the book three stars because of its broad scope and entertaining analyses, but just cannot do so after a few days of mulling over the entirety of its content.If you can separate the wheat from the chaff, it's a decent read; but if you are not already familiar with the subject matter discussed, caveat emptor (buyer beware)!
Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Development - Economic Development    5. Distribution Of Income    6. Economic Theory    7. Economic development    8. Economic history    9. Economics    10. Economics - Theory   

Reviews (3)

The authoritative source on microfinance
I've consulted a number of books on microfinance and found this to be one of the most intelligent, cogent sources of info on the field.Particularly impressive is the clearly written, even handed views on oft debated subjects (e.g. the role of subsidy in microfinance).Highly recommended.

Essential reading for development economists
Microfinance has become one of the most important mechanisms for the development of informal business in developing economies. As such, it has attracted attention from development practitioners, economists and politicians. Disappointingly, most books on the subject can be best described as infomercials - rarely do they go beyond success stories of happy women in brightly coloured clothes who are now running home enterprises. But practitioners know that there is far more to microfinance than simply providing loans - just as there is far more to development than simply pouring money into a country. There are pitfalls to microfinance: it can crowd out local business, it can catapult poor people further into poverty if incorrectly adminstered, and there are a host of governance issues surrounding it.
A must for practitioners, policymakers and researchers
The first three chapters lay down the causes and characteristics of market failure in the finance context, give economic explation fot them, and describe the history of microfinance.I found Chapters 4 and 5 ("Group Lenging" and "Beyond Group Lending" respectively) extremely useful for applied contract theorists.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Finance    5. Microfinance    6. Business & Economics / Finance    7. Development economics   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Developing countries    5. Development - Economic Development    6. Economic development    7. Economic policy    8. Economics - General    9. Business & Economics / Economics / General    10. Development economics   

Reviews (2)

Very interesting for both the general reader and the student
This is a fascinating book, and that is an amazing achievement for a textbook.The approach David Weil takes to this very important subject allows the reader to get involved in the subject, understand why the easy conceptions we have about this subject are indeed too simple and why they are too simple, and develop some intuitions and models with somewhat greater understanding.It is written for a general reader or student with only a very basic understanding of economics (micro and/or macro).Not much math is required to read the chapters (very little, actually), and the discussions with more math are put in appendices for each chapter.So, if you want the math, it is there, but if it scares you - well, you can read the text of the chapter and skip over the appendices.
Very Accessible!
Professor Weil has provided a very readable text for the senior or graduate student.His organization is excellent, as he steps logically through a description and analysis of the main drivers of economic growth.There is just enough math to display the Cobb-Douglas and Solow models and how they help understand economic growth.Additional appendices with mathematical proofs.Topics covered include physical and human capital formation, productivity, share of a nation's resources devoted to investment, population, technology and institutional elements.A most enjoyable read - I recommend it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Development - Economic Development    5. Economic development    6. Economics - General    7. Business & Economics / Economics / General    8. Economics   

Reviews (1)

Good and not a "heavy" book
I'm a undergraduate economic student and have tried a good sort of books in this matter, and I finally get one that fits very nice to my needs. This book touches all the aspects of the subject without being very hard tounderstand or too boring to read, and that is hard to find in book aboutindustrial organization! Another good point is that the book is very newand have useful and contemporary examples. A liked very much! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Development - Economic Development    5. Economics - General    6. Industrial organization    7. Industrial organization (Econo    8. Industrial organization (Economic theory)    9. Industrial policy    10. Business & Economics / Economics / General    11. Industry & Industrial Studies    12. Ownership & organization of enterprises   

Editorial Review

China has the world's most rapidly changing large economy, and according to Ted Fishman, it is forcing the world to change along with it. "No country has ever before made a better run at climbing every step of economic development all at once," he writes, in Read more

Reviews (63)

The revolution will not be televised
On this side of the Pacific, we are seized every 20 years with a sublime terror, as we watch the rise of another monster in the East.In the land of rising suns, tigers and dragons, the Dragon is on the rise and, it seems, will remain so throughout the next century.
Well-written book
For those that are avid readers of journalistic works such as this one, you would absolutely enjoy every moment rummaging through the pages.Statistics are provided but never to the point of being too dry and too boring for the readers to read through.The writer endeavours to shed lights for us ramifications of China and its muscle power.Instead of branding China as a villain, we need to understand that without support from purchasers who are looking for the cheapest bargains, China wouldn't be where it is now.Wal-Mart is covered in detail.The writer gives us a projection that if car manufacturing industry is heading the same direction of products manufacturing, it's only a matter of time before prices for cars would plummet quite considerably in the future when China has perfected its manufacturing bases just as Japan and South Korea had done before it.Then, there's another discussion about the shifting of population from countryside into urban centres where manufacturing bases are located, and how China is able to sustain the supply of cheap labour.China's progress isn't simply detrimental to other countries.On contrary, it benefits them as well.For example, Australia is having a boom right now due to exportation of natural resources to China.With increase of living standard in China, Chinese needs more nutritious food.As China couldn't provide enough, United States particularly the Middle States are enjoying a boom in supplying food to the Middle Kingdom.Then, there are also discussions about other foreign powers keeping United States in check by siding with China, and also the love and hate relationship between USA and China of controlling the currencies so as to keep the interest rates at an attractive rate to facilitate growth in China and so forth.Whilst nobody knows for certain the exact figures of information provided (since China has this tendency to manipulate figures since the beginning of time), suffice to say that the book explains how the mechanism works and allowing us to have an insight of how international trade ticks.Yes, some reviewers are fastidious and highly critical of figures provided by the writer but ultimately, I think they are missing the points.What's crucial from this book is that we need to understand better about China and learning how to work alongside it in order to share the gains it would garner over the years to come.Highly recommended!

Focus on China
This books offers a comprehensive overview of the China vs. World (Western / industrialized hemisphere) dynamics. Fishman intentionally does not get into the guessing game of Middle East/India factors in the equation but offers global trends that are relevant to everyone who is curious about the business world around them. What does it mean if a small fraction of Chinese can, or are willing, to do X? (Hint: a small fraction of one billion, in absolute terms, is an exceptionally large number of people nonetheless!) How will adding over a billion of people to the commercial world around us affect our lives and our countries? How can established companies make use of this new market?
Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. China    4. Competition, International    5. Development - Economic Development    6. Fiction    7. Foreign Investments    8. Globalization    9. Industrial Policy    10. Industrialization    11. Industries - General    12. International - Economics    13. International Relations - General    14. Investments, Foreign    15. Politics / Current Events    16. Business & Economics / Economics / International   

Reviews (12)

Release The Power
PowerNomics should be required reading for every African American book club, community organization, church, and family.The book embodies tenents set forth from Marcus Garvey to Elijah Muhammed to DuBois and Washington.If you believe that "God helps those who help themselves," PowerNomics is an action plan to achieve self-sufficiency.

This is truly Black America's second Bible
Before I read this book, I had not one clue how bad we as African Americans had it.This book truly opened my eyes.The statistics that were presented would make Dr. King literally cry.We have gotten so far behind other nationalities that it is literally pathetic.Claud Anderson's vision if implemented can really change the course that us as Blacks are on.This book should be in every Black American's household.

Live on your feet or die on your knees
Mr. Andersons' book provides a thorough examination, diagnosis, and best possible cure for what ails black america. Not poor whites, hispanics, arabs, jews, gays, or white women. You owe it to you and your family to at least check out the facts of this examination and then decide.
Read more

Subjects:  1. African Americans    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Development - Economic Development    6. Economic conditions    7. Economics - General    8. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    9. People of Color    10. Urban & Regional    11. Afro-Americans    12. Economics   

Reviews (53)

Magical
FBP is an intriguing concept and the model can be scaled up or down in size in all parts of the world. The book serves as a wake up call to businessmen across the world.

its a perfect strategy for the 21st century: for all MNCs to follow
A new approach which in fact is so easy but psychologically so difficult to accept. We have tried it out and and observed companies doing it since 16 years: to design and market low end products for the "Bottom of the Pyramid" (BOP) with high profit margins at low cost. We have developed a tool which we call MMP or Multiple Market Positioning which shows step by step how to implement this BOP idea successfully. Regards, Dr. Peter Oertli, OEC Oertli Consulting, CH-8142 Uitikon-Zurich, Switzerland.

Reducing the Impoverished, One by One

Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Developing countries    5. Development - Economic Development    6. International business enterprises    7. Ngos (Non-Governmental Organizations)    8. Non-governmental organizations    9. Poor    10. Social aspects    11. Strategic Planning    12. Business & Economics / Systems & Planning    13. Management & management techniques    14. Multinationals   

Reviews (3)

If you are only going to read one Economics textbook in your life...
This book, although extremely long, wastes no space in its presentation.Of all economic textbooks I have encountered, this is the only one that explains clearly and precisely everything about world development, citing failed and successful examples in history.If you ever wondered what the driving forces behind policies in the world were, you need this book.Priceless.

Excellent book
This is one of the best books in economic development ever published. Written in plain english, so it's easy to understand, even for non-economics students. Highly recommended for graduate students, professors, and professionals interested in economic issues of developing countries.

Excellent ... But ... !!!
This is an excellent academic book ,but it needs updating in light of the recentglobal developments. Basically it is missing a detailedanalysis of The spread andeffects of Globalization. Maybe there is a neweditionin print now ??? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Developing countries    5. Development - Economic Development    6. Economic development    7. Economic policy    8. Economics - General    9. Economics Of Developing Countries    10. Development economics   

Reviews (6)

Raising the Level of Debate About Global Problems
Most people never think about the unavoidable tradeoffs involved in ameliorating social problems.With opportunity costs in mind, may we must dedicate ourselves to a better world.
Global Crises, Global Solutions
I enjoyed Bjorn Lomborg's latest work as a thought provoking alternative to conventional wisdom on different aspects of globalisation. Unfortunately, much of the scientific and political community have become prisoners to theories which have dubious merit. They are followed more out of political correctness and the prevailing winds of public opinion, than research and testing.
Highly Recommended!
This report is an excellent, controversial and refreshing approach to global problems. Daily, the news media and politicians declare that another crisis is urgent. Often, loud, public resolutions accompany these pronouncements. Political blocs form to push through agendas based on those resolutions. The only thing missing from the process is a dispassionate analysis of whether the solutions make economic sense and, if so, which ones make the most economic sense. This book of compiled essays from the Copenhagen Consensus - as documented in The Economist - provides that missing element. The conference drew from United Nations documents to assemble a list of the most urgent problems facing the world and identified those that presented opportunities for solutions. Then it set the task of identifying solutions that would provide the biggest benefit for the cost, examining 38 proposals for spending $50 billion over four years. Surprisingly, some of the most economically rational projects never make headlines and never turn up in public exhortations. When was the last time you saw someone climbing onto a platform to demand mosquito nets to prevent malaria in Africa? That may not come up nearly as often as adherence to the Kyoto Protocol, which provides a far weaker cost vs. benefit scenario. According to the analysts from Copenhagen, the former seems to be a very sound use of the world's problem-solving resources, but the latter costs a lot and seems to deliver relatively few benefits. We highly recommend this intriguing, sweeping conversation. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Development - Economic Development    5. Economic development    6. Globalization    7. International - Economics    8. International cooperation    9. Public Policy - Economic Policy    10. Business & Economics / Economic Development    11. Development economics    12. Environmental economics    13. Political economy    14. Social issues   

Features

• Audiobook
• Unabridged

Reviews (61)

The Antithesis of Winner-Take-All
If you became hopelessly depressed after reading "The Winner-Take-All Society" by Frank and Cook, then "The Long Tail" will provide you with some solace. Nothing ever reaches its logical conclusion, and economic rewards will not aggregate to the top ad infinitum. The ability to make an infinite number of copies of the "best" song or movie or book contrasts with the infinite shelf space available on the internet. "The Long Tail" demonstrates why that shelf space will be a highly democratizing force. People are always looking for something new, and the traditional, monopolistic channels (or gatekeepers) are under siege, even now.

Pop-science goes marketing
The big thing these days seems to be science writers like Malcolm Gladwell coming up with best-sellers that, charitably put, are very light on facts and very long on sometimes outlandish assertion. Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired magazine, joins the parade with his silly - yes, silly - claim that businesses like music and movies are no longer driven by hits, but by the "long tail." That it is the thousands of titles that people buy or rent infrequently. Somehow, according to Anderson, the idea of web merchants making a zillion titles available and some of those titles being sold or rented once or twice will be the "transformation . . . coming to just about every industry imaginable." Uh, no it ain't. Nowhere in the book does Anderson factor in the reality that someone pays for the production of all those videos and music tracks that rent or sell infrequently. Nor does he account for the reality that not every web merchant can acheive the volume of an Amazon or eBay. In other words, Anderson has discovered the obvious: if you make 30,000 movies available for rental, let's say, through a Netflix, many of the cult titles and dogs will be rented. Anderson pounds on this "long tail" effec while glossing over the fact that the neighborhood video rental store won't carry 30,000 titles. The profits from the occasionl rental of the 30,000th item on the list won't match the cost of acquiring and keeping it in stock in a store, while it makes little difference to a Netflix.
Insights that influence Google's strategic thinking.
98 Rule: Netflix reckoned that 95 percent of its 25,000 DVDs rented at least once a quarter. Amazon using an independent academic research on its book sales suggested that 98 percent of its top 100,000 books sold at least once a quarter.Digital space cost per DVD is very cheap and represent almost no physical inventory space excepting magnetic medium storage.In the sale of one or two DVDs, the traditional retail runs out of steam because it can turn inventory fast enough to pay for physical space, but the economics of online retail keep going.Eventually, Amazon will localize and print digital media using high-speed printers producing a book in seconds from an electronic catalog, the birth of a book replication. DVDs will be replaced by wireless iPods, who are paying subscribers to iTunes, will increase the speed of distribution and volume of sales of the media they prefer. The 80/20 rules are changing.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. Consumer Behavior - General    4. Development - Economic Development    5. Economic Conditions    6. Internet marketing    7. Market segmentation    8. Marketing    9. Marketing - Research    10. Technological innovations    11. Unabridged Audio - Business/Professional    12. Business & Economics / Economic History