One way to improve the economies of developing nations is through capitalism. Third World capitalism often entails people starting modest businesses that enable them to escape poverty. One of the most famous approaches to small-business capitalism is the Grameen Bank.

The Grameen Bank, which began in 1976 in Bangladesh, started the microcredit movement, a system of providing modest loans to people who lack collateral. The first loans provided by Grameen founder Muhammad Yunis totaled twenty-six dollars for forty-two people. By 1997, 8 million people in forty-three countries, including 4 million people from Bangladesh, were receiving microcredit loans from the Grameen Bank and similar programs.

The Grameen Bank has been lauded for its success at improving the lives of the rural poor and its economic stability. The bank places borrowers into groups of five. If one borrower defaults, the entire group is cut off from...