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    Why Doesn't Microfinance Work?: The Destructive Rise of Local Neoliberalism
    Unavailable
    Why Doesn't Microfinance Work?: The Destructive Rise of Local Neoliberalism
    Unavailable
    Why Doesn't Microfinance Work?: The Destructive Rise of Local Neoliberalism
    Ebook417 pages9 hours

    Why Doesn't Microfinance Work?: The Destructive Rise of Local Neoliberalism

    By Milford Bateman

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Since its emergence in the 1970s, microfinance has risen to become one of the most high-profile policies to address poverty in developing and transition countries. It is beloved of rock stars, movie stars, royalty, high-profile politicians and ‘troubleshooting’ economists.

    In this provocative and controversial analysis, Milford Bateman reveals that microfinance doesn’t actually work. In fact, the case for it has been largely built on hype, on egregious half-truths and – latterly – on the Wall Street-style greed of those promoting and working in microfinance. Using a multitude of case studies, from India to Cambodia, Bolivia to Uganda, Serbia to Mexico, Bateman demonstrates that microfi nance actually constitutes a major barrier to sustainable economic and social development, and thus also to sustainable poverty reduction. As developing and transition countries attempt to repair the devastation wrought by the global financial crisis, Why Doesn’t Microfinance Work? argues forcefully that the role of microfinance in development policy urgently needs to be reconsidered.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherZed Books
    Release dateJun 10, 2010
    ISBN9781848138957
    Unavailable
    Why Doesn't Microfinance Work?: The Destructive Rise of Local Neoliberalism

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    Reviews for Why Doesn't Microfinance Work?

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    • 4/5
      An enlightening work! Like so many others I had been sold to the idea that microfinance was the cure to global poverty. Until a few days ago I would have indiscriminatedly advocated for microfinance as the path forward, but Milford Bateman showed, with a wealth of supporting examples and insight into recent history of development and poverty reduction international policy, that this is not the case. In fact it is possible that many of us have been marketed a beautiful 'feel good' idea with no substantial proofs of its practical success. All the contrary it has precipitated poverty and disempowered the poor in the countries where it has been tried, at the benefit of a local and global elites. My only reserve is on including Venezuela as success (or potential success)-story regarding State-driven, pro-poor policies. It was not known at the time of writing, but the Venezuelan experience resulted in a massive failure, visible in terms of Venezuelan mass emigration as of recently. To Mr. Bateman's discharge, the Venezuelan case is a study on it's own, of which results may well be owed more to corruption and poor dictatorial governance than to the initial development policies that were promoted early in the century. A worthwhile read that will leave no one indifferent to development and poverty reduction policing as it is practiced currently and as it should be practiced to be truly effective.
    • 4/5
      a critique on the role that microfinance plays in the neoliberal economic period we live in now. Well argumented critique on this favorite development tool of the liberal world order.