Don't Expect Miracles & Don't Give Up Easily

Tim Ogden compares the responses to rigorous evaluations of microcredit and a social program in New York:

...the [microfinance] response is incredibly disappointing for two reasons: 1) it fails to take responsibility for creating the heightened expectations of microfinance that have led many casual observers to conclude that microcredit is a “failure” because it did not do all these miraculous things that were claimed on its behalf. In fact, the majority of the response is simply a repetition of the same nice stories that caused the distorted perceptions in the first place. Indeed, my summary of the response would be, “Who are you going to believe, our nice stories or their lying data?“; 2) by using an array of passive-aggressive language and phrasings (e.g. welcoming further research by “qualified academics”), the charities essentially said, “We’re not interested in engaging with outside experts except to undermine them. We’ll just keep doing what we’re doing.“And that’s really the message from the microfinance charities in their statement. They are going to continue telling nice stories and operating exactly as they have been despite the data from rigorous evaluations.......both responses to rigorous evaluation stem from the same source. An illogical belief that large, dramatic changes in short time frames are even possible.