Nobel

Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank, which pioneered the strategy of economic development through collateral-free business loans to the poor in Bangladesh, have won the 2006 Nobel peace prize! The Guardian story has a good summary of what his microcredit scheme entails, for those who haven't heard of it before.

Dr. Yunus has been a national hero in Bangladesh for years now, and his microcredit model inspired me to write my first published piece on religion (my Islamic economics article way back in 1994; the conclusion mentions Grameen Bank in particular).