This Thursday, March 31, To Catch a Dollar, a documentary about Grameen America, the U.S. arm of the microfinance program founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner and Presidential Medal of Honor winner Muhammad Yunus will have a special one-day nationwide screening. You can learn more about the film and find a screening near you at the To Catch a Dollar website.
Not too long ago, we enjoyed reading Muhammad Yunus' Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty. Ironically, this new documentary and its promotional boost for his project here in the States comes at a time when Yunus is embattled back home in Bangladesh. The NYT reports on how he has been forced out of Grameen Bank and David Bornstein explains why defending Yunus' leadership is important and defends the microfinance experiment more here. This LAT article outlines some of the growing pains of the microcredit industry including concerns about its efficacy in alleviating poverty and bad lending practices on the part of some banks. This NPR Planet Money podcast features a debate between Yunus and Vikram Akula on non-profit vs. for-profit microfinance. It's a story we will need to keep an eye on. Meanwhile, if you see the documentary, let me know what you think!
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