Week of February 1, 2016

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1. Income Volatility: The Aspen Institute's Ida Rademacher explores policy solutions to providing families long-term financial security, Rachel Schneider and Nancy Castillo of CFSI highlight emerging fintech products, and Dave Prosser, SVP at Freedom First Credit Union, discusses responsible underwriting for SSIR's ongoing blog and webinar series. Stanford Social Innovation Review

2. Microfinance: Chris Dunford reviews microfinance's conventional theory of change and why the industry is in need of rebranding to showcase poverty alleviation as an achievement, not a consolation prize. NextBillion

3. Financial Insecurity: Much like US Financial Diaries households, service workers at large tech firms in Silicon Valley face increasing financial insecurity due to changes in the nature of work and the start-up communities response to workers at the base of the "gig economy". The Guardian

4. Economic Growth: In response to policymakers' frequent comment that “randomized experiments take too much time," David McKenzie asks - too much time compared to what? The World Bank - Development Impact

5. Fintech: A new startup is taking a "treat yo self" approach to savings - users reward good behavior by adding money into an electronic tip jar linked to a secure savings account. ChicagoInno

October 13, 2026

Financial Access Initiative

The Swarm Edition

Editor’s Note: I’m going to assume that you are seeing plenty of AI content (news and papers, not AI slop, though I’m sure you’re getting plenty of that too) from other sources, so I’m trying to think hard about the marginal value that the faiV can provide. As far as I’ve gotten so far: a) make sure that directly AI-related content does not take up more than 2 of the 5 items, and b) try to focus specifically on the cybersecurity issue for financial inclusion. Beyond that, I’m open to feedback on the value you get from the faiV in relation to AI to help guide us in the future. On a different note, I’ll be making a brief cameo appearance at the e-MFP Inclusive Finance Conference to moderate the opening plenary. If you haven’t registered, do so and I hope to see you there! - Tim Ogden

October 6, 2026

Laura Freschi

Rereading Michael Kremer

Ten years ago, FAI managing director Tim Ogden published Experimental Conversations, a collection of interviews with economists and other people who critique, promote, and use randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in development economics. One of the interviewees was Michael Kremer, a pioneer of the movement, now a Nobel laureate, and recently appointed Chief Economist of the World Bank.

August 13, 2026

The Massive DDoS Edition

Editor's Note:

If you were hoping that the faiV would be a pleasant distraction from the overwhelming flow of AI-related content, sorry. For the record, the faiV had “ai” built in before Anthropic existed. And a housekeeping note: we’ve finally jumped ship from Mailchimp to NYU’s mailing platform—I guess if you’re reading this it’s been a seamless transition and if you’re not, well, you’re not. Feedback on the faiV’s content and format and delivery methods is always welcome, just drop me an email.

- Tim Ogden

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