Feb 24, 2010

Helping Haiti’s Children, Part II

What should people do who want to help Haiti’s children?

Dec 21, 2009

The Neocolonialists?

Recently I was listening to Rory Stewart’s The Places In Between, the story of his walk across Afghanistan. Near the end of the book Stewart turns his attention to the aid agencies, public and private, that had come rushing into Afghanistan. His observations are worthwhile reading for anyone interested in making international aid more effective, so I’m excerpting them here.

Nov 16, 2009

Saving the World By Lowering Your Expectations

Impatient optimists are like investors in subprime mortgages in 2007. They can be so blinded by the upside that they fail to do their due diligence. In the end, their impatience and pursuit of outsize returns fuels waste and disappointment. Patient optimists, by contrast, have lowered their expectations of any particular program or intervention, but not their belief in a better world over the long term. If we’re going to succeed in making the world a better place, we need to convince more people to lower their expectations, too.

Oct 28, 2009

Microfinance: Autism or Hormone Replacement Therapy?

This has been a banner year for gathering real evidence about microfinance. But does all of this research matter? Will it change what donors believe about microfinance? In other words, is microfinance more like autism or Hormone Replacement Therapy?

Oct 16, 2009

Kiva, Transparency, Connections and Conduits

There’s been a great deal more conversation about the gap between the Kiva story and the Kiva reality since my post on Monday. You can see a mostly comprehensive guide to the conversation here (and I really recommend reading through the first several articles there if you’re not familiar with the debate). The most important update is that Kiva tonight posted a new, more complete description of how it operates. I want to react to various points made in the debate and Kiva’s update, clarify where I stand and ask a few more questions of everyone involved. I truly hope the outcome of all of this conversation is lots of Kiva users, and lots of other donors, who are willing to accept less connection in favor of more effectiveness.

Oct 12, 2009

Even More Questions About Kiva

Today I saw a Kiva document that, for me, points to a far bigger problem with Kiva than those already pointed out. Two points in the document floored me. First, all losses from Kiva-securitized loans are borne by the Kiva user. Second, Kiva’s monthly repayment reports are not based on actual repayment data.

Sep 22, 2009

Raising Tiny Tim

According to a recent study conducted by the OECD on child welfare, US-children rank among the lowest in certain indicators—such as material well-being and educational well-being—despite the fact that the US is one of the highest spenders. In fact, the study generally showed a poor relationship between funding and outcomes.

May 24, 2009

J-PAL Publishes Long Awaited Microfinance Impact Study

Some readers may think the report is fairly damning to the marketing claims of the impact of microfinance—more studies like this in other areas and over longer periods are necessary before we can reject the traditional views though. Ultimately, though, this study is very good news for microfinance because it begins to illuminate what is really happening among borrowers. That information, in turn, can be used to improve the product to make sure that the best products are offered to clients—and the impact of microfinance can improve.

Dec 11, 2008

When Is A Cow Not A Cow?

Oct 18, 2008

What’s So Hard About Saving?

One of the many confounding questions of microfinance is why people don’t save more. The first blush assumption that the poor cannot save because they don’t have the money has been dis-proven by data. Surveys of household consumption among those living on less than $2 a day show that they spend a significant portion of their income on non-essential items. In many cases where savings products are available they are widely used, even when they are objectively terrible (negative interest rates, inconvenient).