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”

Week of March 14, 2010

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3/19: Financial architect finds out how the poor live on $2 a day http://bit.ly/a7bUfq#microfinance

3/19: FAI report "Half the World is Unbanked" published in the McKinsey Quarterly: http://bit.ly/avouNe #microfinance

3/18: "Microfinance: Dream vs.reality" http://bit.ly/b9FwHO #microfinance

3/18: Stuart Rutherford: "Poor households in the financial diaries used 9-10 different financial tools to manage their money" http://bit.ly/99GsNE

3/16: Interview with Stuart Rutherford:"Micro-finance guru unveils new vision for poor" http://bit.ly/cDo346 #microfinance

3/16: Idea of the day: "coping diaries" (like financial diaries) examining how people cope in both normal and crisis periods. http://bit.ly/c0Mw8B

3/16: New book explores the SHG movement in India: "#Microfinance Self-Help Groups in India: living up to their promise?" http://bit.ly/aeqZ4J