People in the developing world expend more than a quarter of their potential earnings on energy. Economic development, environmental health, and global stability all hinge on wise management of global energy resources. In this audio lecture, David Goldwyn and David Dollar paint a positive picture of what developing countries and governments in the West can do to improve energy use abroad and at home.
Managing Editor Eric Nee spoke with Self-Help’s founder and CEO, Martin Eakes, about the subprime loan crisis and its impact on the poor.
Critics of microfinance institutions (MFIs) ask them to choose between helping the poor or making money for investors, but this is a false choice. MFIs can have their impact and profit, too, says the author, the CEO of the Grameen Foundation. He sketches a new vision of microfinance as a platform, not a product; one that relies on high volumes, not high margins, and that uses limits on private benefit, holistic performance standards, and third-party certification to help MFIs meet both their bottom lines.
Polak offers entrepreneurial solutions to poverty in Asia and Africa.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammad Yunus aims for a more just society for all.
By working closely with the clients and consumers, design thinking allows high-impact solutions to social problems to bubble up from below rather than being imposed from the top.
Fair Trade-certified coffee is growing in sales, but strict certification requirements are resulting in uneven economic advantages for coffee growers and lower quality coffee for consumers.
Despite the hoopla over microfinance, it doesn't cure poverty. But stable jobs do. If societies are serious about helping the poorest of the poor, they should stop investing in microfinance and start supporting large, labor-intensive industries.
Few microfinance institutions articulate what, exactly, their ultimate goals are and how to achieve them. If the goal of microfinance is to alleviate poverty, the authors say, then MFIs should focus on helping their clients build successful enterprises, rather than on making more and bigger loans.
Market solutions to poverty, which include services and products targeting consumers at the “bottom of the pyramid,” portray poor people as creative entrepreneurs and discerning consumers. Yet this rosy view of poverty-stricken people is not only wrong, but also harmful.
