microfinance

A foreign domestic worker looks after her elderly client. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wongjunhao/5427024831/">Jerry Wong (flickr)</a>

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China's rise, the hidden mom economy, and soda-bottle light bulbs: our top 5 stories of 2011

From low-tech light bulbs in the Philippines to microfinance in Nicaragua, our team of young writers covered lots of ground this year.

Muhammad Yunus, Bangladeshi Economist and founder of the Grameen Bank. Yunus is credited with popularizing the mircrofinance model. Photo:<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/4308450701/"> World Economic Forum(Flickr)</a>

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The 2011 Global Microcredit Summit meets in face of increasing criticism

The 2011 Global Microcredit Summit convened last week in Spain amid growing concerns that microfinance might not work as advertised.

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Five years of microlending in less than five minutes (video)

Check out what over five years of Kiva microlending looks like:

This Sri Lankan woman was able to start a broom-making business with help from microfinance. Will the economic crisis limit these opportunities? Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelfoleyphotography/2048141649/">Michael Foley: flickr</a>

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Microfinance and the Economic Crisis: What to Believe?

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) are going to be badly hurt by the global financial crisis. Or will they? Reports and opinions differ widely.

Some argue that the financial crisis has hampered small-scale lending.

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Microfinance Only One Factor in Economic Growth

The Council on Foreign Relations has an interview with Matt Flannery, the co-founder and CEO of kiva.org, a website that partners with microfinance institutions to provide loans to entrepreneurs in the developing world.

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Are Bigger Countries an Unfriendly Place to Micro-finance?

Lucy Conger's story "The Big-Country Enigma" examines why micro-credit has flourished in smaller countries like Peru and Bolivia while remaining somewhat small in scale in countries such as Brazil.

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The Ugly Side of Micro-Lending

Business Week's "The Ugly Side of Microlending” presents a seemingly untold story regarding microfinance.

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Defending Microfinance

The future of microfinance will depend on organizations ability to create solutions that are not only economically sustainable but also socially sustainable.

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Microfinance- the Next Asset Bubble

As many Wall Street businesses become involved, some wonder if microfinance will crumble under the pressure of capitalism.

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Microfinance Goes Mobile

Cell phone banking revolutionizes financial services for the poor.

Banking. Vodaphone

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Microfinance Misses its Mark

According to Aneel Karnan of the University of Michigan Business School, Microcredit does not significantly alleviate poverty.

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Opinions and Editorials

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Islamic Banking is a Rapidly Growing Industry - An Interview

Jawad I. Ali speaks to the Council on Foreign Relations about the growing global sharia finance industry.

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Europe and Middle East

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Culture and Society

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Kenya - Small Businesses Get Access to Banking at Last

One bank has set out to change the way business is done in Kenya.

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Financial Terms and Institutions

International finance can be difficult to understand, but here are some simplified definitions and articles on institutions such as the IMF and ideas like microfinance.

corporate social responsibility

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Kiva Chronicles - How Close?

Follow the real-life story of a couple who decided to change the world, one loan at a time.

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