Microfinance – a glass half-full or half-empty?

Thomas Dichter from the CATO Institute says that: "the average poor person in the past (and today) is not an entrepreneur, and when he or she has access to credit it is largely for consumption or cash flow smoothing."

Alex Counts, director of the Grameen Foundation, counters that while not everyone is an entrepreneur, microfinance allows the poorest to survive in developing countries where few jobs and no safety nets are available.

For a more nuanced view don't miss Richard Posner's critique, Economist's recommendation and Mark Straub's post on the two sides of this topic.