David Roodman was mentioned in a microfinance piece on The Guardian's Poverty Matters Blog which discussed a recent Danish film about the microfinance industry.
From the Article:
Meanwhile Heinemann's main aim is not to expose the feet of clay of this global icon of the struggle against poverty so much as to challenge the western donors' naive enthusiasm for microfinance.
"I admit, the film shows for the first time the dark side of microcredit," Heinemann told me from Denmark, where he is coping with the growing global row. "I went to a number of experts and asked them, does microfinance alleviate or eradicate poverty? None of them could give me a clear answer. Several say there is no real impact or that we need more research to know. At the same time, I could see loads of websites of aid agencies claiming huge success.
I couldn't make these two things match. The more I talked to people, the more astonished I was at the mass hype."
A number of longstanding critics of microfinance, such as Milford Bateman, are interviewed in Heinemann's film as well as those who are more supportive, such as David Roodman at the Center of Global Development in the US. The latter has put up a series of really thoughtful blogs on the growing dispute and his own criticisms of Heinemann's film.