Where We Live: Microfinance, From India to New Haven

The micro-lending movement has won a Nobel Prize as a leading antipoverty strategy.  Now, in some places, it’s facing imminent collapse.

The idea is simple.  Lenders make small loans to some of the poorest people in developing countries, with no collateral.  It’s been shown to spark innovation and lift people out of desperate circumstances.

But in parts of India, the promise of microfinance has taken an ugly turn…that looks an awful lot like the burst bubble of the US housing market.  Predatory lending…multiple borrowing…financial institutions looking out for shareholders first…

Today on Where We Wive, a look at what’s gone wrong with micro-finance globally, and what’s still going right.

And, we’ll look at how the idea might actually be catching on in parts of the U.S.