The Ambiguous Rise of Microfinance
Two recent books explore the modern prominence of the global financial-inclusion agenda and argue about how it got there.
Review
Economic Development - Book Reviews
Social innovations that improve the living standards of the poor
Review
Should Heartland Cities Become Tech Hubs?
Urbanist Nicholas Lalla offers a playbook for tech-led economic development in midsize cities, avowing that inclusive growth can offset the worsening wealth inequities that the tech sector has helped generate.
Review
Getting to Zero
Authors Michael Lenox and Rebecca Duff call for disruptive innovations and radical reconfiguration of industries to decarbonize the planet by 2050.
Review
Not Just Copycats
A new book on Chinese entrepreneurs breaks through stereotypes and offers a more comprehensive view of innovation in China.
Review
Making Economic Sense of Religion
Sriya Iyer reveals how faith has driven India’s increasingly powerful economy.
Review
Domesticity’s Gross Product
The authors of Equality for Women = Prosperity for All expose the economic wastefulness of gender inequity.
Review
Money for Nothing
In Fair Shot, Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes makes the case for universal basic income.
Review
Rethinking Development Work
Practitioners and funders in global development need less idealism and more pragmatism, Adam D. Kiš argues in The Development Trap.
Review
Finding a Place for Refugees
The refugee crisis demands bold responses that treat migrants not as drains on host societies but rather as assets to them.
Review
Keeping it Real
Simon's book warns against short-sighted impact investing that brings more benefit to investors than to the communities it supposedly supports.