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The Father Of Microfinance Has A Plan To Fix Capitalism

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Bangladeshi economist and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus is advocating for an economic system based on altruism.
PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images

Forty years ago, an economics professor in Bangladesh launched what has often been called a revolution. His idea of making small loans available for people who otherwise couldn’t access credit — in this case, mostly poor rural women — caught on internationally.

Using this microcredit model, millions of people in Bangladesh and around the world have started small businesses, and the professor, Muhammad Yunus, was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his efforts to alleviate poverty.

Today Yunus is trying to launch another revolution. It’s founded on the idea that capitalism is broken and a new economic system, one based on altruism, is needed.

He explains how in a new book titled “A World in Three Zeros: The New Economics of Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment and Zero Net Carbon Emissions.”

GUESTS

Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate; creator of the microcredit economic movement; and author of the new book “A World of Three Zeros: The New Economics of Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment and Zero Net Carbon Emissions”; @Yunus_Centre

For more, visit https://the1a.org.

© 2017 WAMU 88.5 – American University Radio.

Copyright 2017 WAMU 88.5

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