Two things I read recently have sparked my thinking on microfinance: this Economist article about whether microfinance reduces poverty, and this blog posting by Rachel Strohm, who I follow on twitter and works in microfinance.

Something about microfinance never sat quite right with me.  Sure, it’s impossible to argue that group lending models that allow credit to overcome adverse selection and moral hazard problems aren’t an important innovation in improving the lives of the poor.  Sti...