Week of April 22, 2011

Lots of articles and blogs worth looking at this week. Everything from Milford Bateman’s take on why microfinance isn’t working to how the Mexican government built rigorous impact evaluation programs into its policy processes. Check it out and please add any must reads we missed via comments.
•    How We Choose--Looking at household healthcare choices in the U.S. and India 
•    IRIN Asia: Microfinance institutions pushed loans, admits BRAC 
•    "6 microfinance crises that the sector does not want to remember" at Microfinance Focus
•    Behavioral Economics and Microfinance: A Review of the Literature 
•    “Yunus’ unceremonious removal from Grameen Bank does Bangladesh no favours” says Barun Roy at the Business Standard  
•    "Has the microfinance bubble really burst?" Guest blog by Milford Bateman
•    The case for microfinance: responses to Milford Bateman from Malcolm Harper and Thankom Arun 
•    CNNMoney.com, “In developing economies, equity beats microfinance”
•    CGAP series on savings: The Power of Successful, Market-led Savings Mobilization 
•    Indian Banks Seek Personal Guarantees from Microfinance Executives for Debt Restructuring
•    Miguel Székely explains how the Mexican government built rigorous impact evaluation into its policy process 
•    Andhra Pradesh government may start its own microfinance institution as a channel for credit to SHGs 
•    “The microfinance industry under the microscope” in The Globe and Mail

Week of April 14, 2011

Great reading this week—a new paper from Jonathan Conning and Jonathan Morduch, an interview with Jane Wales of the Global Philanthropy Forum, an op-ed debate between Professor Bhagwati and The Sunday Guardian's Zafar Sobhan, and more. Add any important links we missed via comments. 

Week of April 8, 2011

Week of March 31, 2011

There’s some great reading this week on behavioral economics, mobile banking, over-indebtedness, microinsurance and more. Check it out and if you would like to make an addition to the list, please do so via comments.

Week of March 25, 2011

Lots of interesting articles and events this week. Check it out and please add any additional links that you think are important via comments.

Week of March 18, 2011

Here’s what we’ve been reading over the past two weeks! Feel free to add any that you think are missing via comments.

•    More evidence for the link between microfinance and health. 

•    An overview of econometric approaches to measuring the impact of microfinanceand FAI’s Jonathan Morduch’s response to the paper.

•    David Roodman also reminds us that there is no clear evidence that microfinance reduces poverty and references a paper co-authored with FAI’s Morduch.

•    Timothy Ogden on the downside of microfinance’s focus on women and girls.

•    Elisabeth Rhyne at CFI-ACCION on 3 microfinance industry efforts to raise standards.

•    13 key institutions in microfinance industry sign open letter supporting Muhammad Yunus. 

•    David Roodman offers 5 angles on the Grameen/Yunus microfinance scandal that the media haven't covered.

•    National India microfinance law might nullify repressive Andhra Pradesh one.

•    Good overview of what’s happening in Indian microfinance from the Indian Development Blog.

•    How do the poor get by in Malawi? 5 million data points from new financial diaries.

•    Measuring cross-indebtedness - new evidence from Latin America.

•    Half of Americans Lack Financial Safety Net.

•    Playspent asks: Can you make it through a month, tapped out and unemployed? Try it, you’ll be surprised by the results.

•    Even economists can be fashionistas. Portfolios of the Poor co-author Daryl Collins profiled in Elle magazine.  

Week of March 2, 2011

Here’s our shortlist of links (in no particular order) that we thought were interesting or relevant to the microfinance sector. This is by no means a complete list, so if we missed something important, please feel free to add it in the comments. And if you’re looking for a media round-up of the Yunus-Bangladeshi government dispute, check out Financial Access Initiative in the News.
 

Week of February 22, 2011

In the past two weeks alone CNN, BBC, and the Guardian, not to mention countless other media outlets around the world, have been reporting on the ongoing feud between microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus and the Bangladeshi government. While the Bangladeshi government continues to pressure Yunus to leave the top post at Grameen, some researchers and practitioners have continued to dig more deeply to better understand the financial lives of the poor and evaluate tools, mechanisms, and strategies to alleviate poverty. Here are some of the ideas and research circulating in the blogosphere:

•    From The Guardian: "Can microinsurance protect the poor?" 
•    David Roodman looks at microfinance impacts in Africa and examines Milton Bateford’s arguments re: who is to blame for indebtedness
•    Robert Townsend delves into the financial lives of the poor in Thailand
•    Gina Harmon, president and CEO of Accion discusses the economic imperatives of scaling microfinance in the U.S. in the Huffington Post
•    Visa and humanitarian groups partner to improve aid disbursement 
•    Stuart Rutherford and FAI’s Jonathan Morduch discuss the importance of microsavings
•    David Roodman and Barbara Cristina S. debate financial access and the poor
•    Matthew Bishop and Felix Salmon debate the value of for-profit microfinance
•    The World Bank examines why so few farmers want rainfall insurance
•    Andrew Sprung on the Smart Campaign to launch a certification program for client protection
•    Interesting analysis of potential impact of microfinance caps in “Sacrificing Microcredit for Unrealistic Goals”