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