I am entirely blown away by Grameen Bank, a profitable, sustainable bank that lends small amounts of money to the ultra-poor, primarily women, to help them get out of poverty. It’s an amazing concept, carried through to fruition, demonstrating a better way to provide real help. For me it’s also a great testament to the power of capitalism and entrepreneurship.

The founder of Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunus, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. His acceptance speech is available online. It is well worth a read. (via Sid)

While we’re on the topic, you should also check out Iqbal Quadir’s Ted Talk. Iqbal is a co-founder of GrameenPhone, a mobile phone company that provides loans to the poor to acquire mobile phones, which are in turn used as a business, providing phone service across villages in Bangladesh. The talk is fantastic, digging into the economics of the value created by communication and technology.