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David Roodman's Microfinance Open Book Blog

Draft chapters, burning questions, useful sources.

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David Roodman's Microfinance Open Book Blog

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Is Money for Microcredit Killing Savings with Kindness?

As you are probably tired of hearing me say, I am evaluating microfinance from three perspectives. A pattern is emerging: microsavings looks pretty good in all three perspectives. The one randomized trial of savings returned a positive verdict from the perspective of development-as-proven-poverty-reduction. Meanwhile, fraud-free savings serves people much as credit does, yet without raising debt trap fears---good for development-as-freedom.