Marginal Revolution: My micro-credit essay with Karol Boudreaux
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Saved by 1 people (0 private), first by anonymouse user on 2008-04-20
- Brianddrpm on 2008-04-20 - Tags microcredit , boudreaux , cowen , entrepreneurship , microfinance
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For better or worse, microborrowing often entails a kind of bait and switch. The borrower claims that the money is for a business, but uses it for other purposes. In effect, the cash allows a poor entrepreneur to maintain her business without having to sacrifice the life or education of her child. In that sense, the money is for the business, but most of all it is for the child. Such lifesaving uses for the funds are obviously desirable, but it is also a sad reality that many microcredit loans help borrowers to survive or tread water more than they help them get ahead. This sounds unglamorous and even disappointing, but the alternative—such as no doctor’s visit for a child or no school for a year—is much worse.
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