David Roodman's Microfinance Open Book Blog

In the history chapter of my book, I document how ancient is the practice of joint liability---especially if that term includes any time one person cosigns another's promissory note. Jonathan Swift made small loans in the 1720s to "industrious trademen" who could produce two co-signers to vouch for them. No collateral was needed.

In my continuing editing pass, I've just gone over chapter 3, Credit History (.doc, .pdf)

This chapter covers the deep history of financial services for the masses, a subject that is close to my heart, however little or great its practical value.

In response to recent controversy over the fairness of charging the poor high interest rates on charitable loans, the pope released a statement on the matter. He seems to have staked out a reasonable middle ground: charging interest is reasonable to the extent it defrays expenses; beyond that is unjust:

Recently I received this interesting letter, shared with permission. It adds background to my post on Pearl, Yunus, and History:

On March 7, 2010, Syed Zahirul Abedin zahirul64@gmail.com wrote to Mr David Roodman

Center for Global Development

To

Mr David Roodman

Center for Global Development

1800 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Third Floor

Washington DC 20036

Dear Sir,