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What microloans miss
There’s no doubt that microfinance does a tremendous amount of good, yet there are also real limits to what it can accomplish. Microloans make poor borrowers better off. But, on their own, they often don’t do much to make poor countries richer. There’s no doubt that microfinance does a tremendous amount of good, yet there are also real limits to what it can accomplish. Microlo... more
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NYC: Kiva.org Event @Felissimo Townhouse 3/4
Mixer sponsored by microlending Web site Kiva.org and the folks at Good magazine.
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The Ugly Side Of Microlending
Taking advantage of the poor in this manner who only wish to have a chance to live as others do while maintaining dignity is the lowest form of human behavior. Giving them the small loans they need and then charging them 120% interest thus making it impossible for them to actually get ahead simply keeps them down while making these banks richer. And if you read further enough in this article, Walmart is now involved in this as they have expanded into microlending in Mexico and in other places around the world. How insidious. I wish CURRENT could do an expose' on this exploitation of the poor because you will never see this exposed on the mainstream media in this country where Walmart is considered "charitable." //////Excerpt:///Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), which obtained a Mexican banking license a year ago, began offering loans for purchases at 16 of its 997 Mexican outlets in November. In the U.S., the retailer markets itself as a friend to the budget-conscious. In Mexico, it charges interest rates that might set off popular and political revolts back home, although Wal-Mart describes its terms as appropriate to the Mexican market. At one store west of Mexico City, a 32-inch LG plasma TV with a price tag of $957 can ultimately cost as much as $1,474, thanks to a 52-week payment plan that carries an annual percentage rate (APR) of 86%./////end of excerpt.
Taking advantage of the poor in this manner who only wish to have a chance to live as others do while maintaining dignity is the lowes... more -
Cells Making Cents
This pod by VC2 producer Will Lemke explores mobile phone technology that is advancing the process of Microfinance in India and other developing countries. This pod by VC2 producer Will Lemke explores mobile phone technology that is advancing the process of Microfinance in India and other ... more
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Unitus to be featured in microfinance pod
I'm producing a pod on microfinance and technology. The initial focus of the piece centered around the work of Tapan Parikh and his CAM project
http://www.technologyreview.com/tr35/Profile.aspx?TRID=...
However I came across this video from Unitus, a Redmond based NGO working in microfinance in India. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoEzDOguCAc
I'll be interviewing Unitus CEO & President Geoff Davis tomorrow morning, and his story will be told along with Tapan's....I'm deep into editing now, and should have my post production complete within a few days.
This has been a very interesting pod to produce, and I can't wait to share it with the Current audience. I'm producing a pod on microfinance and technology. The initial focus of the piece centered around the work of Tapan Parikh and his CA... more -
Natalie Portman - The Anti-Britney
Natalie Portman is Gen Y's Celebrity Saving Grace. Her beauty is matched only by her intelligence and commitment to doing great work, both on and off the set.
Tuesday night she spoke to an auditorium packed with Stanford University students on micro-finance as a viable means of assisting the poor, and did a great job of it, evidently. According to one reveler her speech was "riveting" and full of insights about how to implement poverty relief that actually works.
Portman is an Ambassador of Hope for the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA International), a leading microfinance organization dedicated to fighting global poverty.
And it's highly unlikely we'll be seeing snapshots of her exiting a limo while smashed with no panties on any time soon. Natalie Portman is Gen Y's Celebrity Saving Grace. Her beauty is matched only by her intelligence and commitment to doing great work, ... more -
Wealth of the Poor
The practice of giving tiny, unsecured loans in the developing world is being hailed as a breakthrough in the fight against global poverty. Adam Yamaguchi explores the concept of microcredit and its founder, Muhammad Yunus, in Bangladesh. The practice of giving tiny, unsecured loans in the developing world is being hailed as a breakthrough in the fight against global pov... more
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Brilliant and Simple - The Democratizing Effects of Unregulated Banking
Lend money to people in underdeveloped nations - not only is this creating possibilities that were never there before, as pioneered by COMPARTAMOS, a non-profit bank started in Mexico in 1990. Get involved & make the world a better place. Lend money to people in underdeveloped nations - not only is this creating possibilities that were never there before, as pioneered by... more
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Microfinance
