Saturday , April 20 2024
Home / Naked Keynesianism / Microfinance, Financial Inclusion,and the Rhetoric of Reaction

Microfinance, Financial Inclusion,and the Rhetoric of Reaction

Summary:
This paper was published by Latin American Policy last year, co-authored by my ex-student Carlos Schönerwald Silva. From the abstract: Several political and academic circles have considered microfinance to be an important tool to promote economic development and the reduction of poverty. It became a worldwide phenomenon, and the practice disseminated in many developing countries such as Brazil. Even as many authors sing the praises of microfinance—in particular the success in developing countries—the actual experience has fallen short. The goal in this article is to provide a critical analysis of the recent practices of microfinance in Brazil. The article also presents the general characteristics of microcredit in Brazil within the context of the broader development strategy pursued, in particular since stabilization and the inception of neoliberal policies in the mid-1990s. It is argued that microfinance plays an insidious role, making market-friendly solutions for social problems more acceptable. Read full paper here.

Topics:
Matias Vernengo considers the following as important: , ,

This could be interesting, too:

Matias Vernengo writes Keynes’ denial of conflict: a reply to Professor Heise’s critique

Matias Vernengo writes Podcast Failures: Friedman and Chile, Hume and Public Debt

Robert Vienneau writes Labor And Land Are No Commodities

Matias Vernengo writes The menace of the myth of General Pinochet’s Chilean economic miracle

This paper was published by Latin American Policy last year, co-authored by my ex-student Carlos Schönerwald Silva. From the abstract:
Several political and academic circles have considered microfinance to be an important tool to promote economic development and the reduction of poverty. It became a worldwide phenomenon, and the practice disseminated in many developing countries such as Brazil. Even as many authors sing the praises of microfinance—in particular the success in developing countries—the actual experience has fallen short. The goal in this article is to provide a critical analysis of the recent practices of microfinance in Brazil. The article also presents the general characteristics of microcredit in Brazil within the context of the broader development strategy pursued, in particular since stabilization and the inception of neoliberal policies in the mid-1990s. It is argued that microfinance plays an insidious role, making market-friendly solutions for social problems more acceptable.
Read full paper here.
Matias Vernengo
Econ Prof at @BucknellU Co-editor of ROKE & Co-Editor in Chief of the New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *