Week of October 17, 2011

• Piyush Tantia/ideas42 discusses a new case study: "Turning Interest into Savings"
• "The Millennium Villages Project is working well" Jeff Sachs responds  to criticism in the Poverty Matters blog.
• Conversations on Microfinance: Jonathan Morduch is interviewed by Timothy Ogden on the the current state of microfinance, innovations, opportunities and challenges, the nonprofit/for profit debate, and more.
• A Survey of the Evidence on Over-Indebtednes. New report from CGAP.
• World Bank report on Andhra Pradesh (AP): After the microfinance crisis: Assessing the Role of Govt-led microcredit alternatives
• "Without fresh lending, MFIs will remain in crisis mode" in India and especially in AP 
• David Roodman: "Zap It to Me: First Randomized Trial of Micro-transfers" 
• Who spends what on aid and where? (from Global Dashboard)
• NYT: U.S. to cut foreignaid budget, with devastating consequences both here & abroad 
• NYT's Vikas Bajaj on "frugal innovation" in India: roving tellers use high tech to bank the poor