Micro-lending better in theory than reality

Micro-lending was supposed to save the world’s poor from big, overseas lenders; but, an article in this morning’s New York Times reveals that although the theories behind micro-finance seem to work, the actual loans don’t.

Neil MaqFarquhar is The New York Times’ United Nations Bureau Chief and he says that while these small loans were designed to pass money to the world’s poor, unusually high interest rates make these loans less effective than they’re worth. We also hear from Alex Counts, the president and CEO of Grameen Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on micro-financing. Together the two paint a more complicated picture of what was thought to be a good solution to helping the world’s poorest communities.