A World of Three Zeroes

MUHAMMAD YUNUS | REVIEW BY: THE EDITOR

For decades Prof Yunus has been quietly challenging accepted economic principles and offering hope to millions of people shunned by mainstream economic paradigms. A World of Three Zeroes brings together these experiences with numerous real-world examples that he has seen grow out of the initiatives of his Grameen organisations.

The book clearly and accessibly draws together the threads of many modern crises to create a premise that change is as simple as a shift in how we think about the businesses that we build. Social Business – for-profit organisations with positive social outcomes baked into their business model – are the key to tackling global challenges. From the local, global change becomes possible.

This is a book about revolution, but very much a Yunus-style revolution, one of individual empowerment and community spirit, of simple changes with huge implications.

Underpinning the book is a constant sense of optimism, a tone at odds with modern conversations on economic reform. And it is easy to mistake this optimism for naïve simplicity – except that the book constantly asks the silent question: ‘Why not?’ – Why do we teach our kids that their role in life is as a job slave, not a job creator? – Why don’t governments create opportunities for social enterprises rather than forprofit companies? And why is it so hard to imagine business with social, rather than financial, dividends?

His vision is utopic but his optimism is infectious. Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, Zero Carbon Emissions – For Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunus, the problems facing the world are intertwined. To his mind, the current mode of capitalism is broken, with the profit motive shutting down all discussion of alternative methods of doing business.

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