What does Economics have to do with Peace? Alot if you were on the Nobel Prize committee. Microloans, small loans to individuals, have been sprouting up in Africa and Asia over the past twenty years as a way to stimulate economic activity. And I don't have to teach you again what happens to political stability during times of economic insecurity. So to spread Peace, Muhammad Yunus founded the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh for loans (sometimes for less than $1) to those who had ambition, but no collateral. Tell me how this may be a peace award and an economics award too.
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This is perhaps the true manifestation of the proverb, "A Little Goes a Long Way." Microloans are indeed starting to provide the necessary stability to people in dire poverty, and as people get greater economic stability, the general welfare of a country will rise. A microloan is like the first domino that sets off the reaction for social (and political) progress. Bangladesh, at 139 on the Human Development index, is definately in need of such a boost. Yunus has in essence shows that endeavors at the grassroots level, and on the small scale (before reaching for the large scale), reap the most success.
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