209 books
—
217 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Due Diligence: An Impertinent Inquiry into Microfinance” as Want to Read:
Due Diligence: An Impertinent Inquiry into Microfinance
by
The idea that small loans can help poor families build businesses and exit poverty has blossomed into a global movement. The concept has captured the public imagination, drawn in billions of dollars, reached millions of customers, and garnered a Nobel Prize. Radical in its suggestion that the poor are creditworthy and conservative in its insistence on individual accountabi
...more
Get A Copy
Paperback, 275 pages
Published
(first published December 19th 2011)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
Due Diligence,
please sign up.
Recent Questions
This question contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of Due Diligence: An Impertinent Inquiry into Microfinance

This is the book to read about microfinance, specifically microcredit.
Roodman is a fantastic journalist and a delightful writer. The book is exactly what I want in that 'one,' definitive book about a subject: thoroughly documented, broad but focused within each topic, well-organized and indexed for reference, and nuanced. Really, complexly, and carefully nuanced. He makes no claim in the book that is not stated exactly as he means, no broader nor more narrow. And that is what you need in what is ...more
Roodman is a fantastic journalist and a delightful writer. The book is exactly what I want in that 'one,' definitive book about a subject: thoroughly documented, broad but focused within each topic, well-organized and indexed for reference, and nuanced. Really, complexly, and carefully nuanced. He makes no claim in the book that is not stated exactly as he means, no broader nor more narrow. And that is what you need in what is ...more

The main question the author attempts to answer is: What is microfinance's social bottom line, its contribution to development?
The answer I got from the book was: it's unclear. David argues that microfinance can be viewed as development in 3 different ways; as escape from poverty, as freedom, or as industry building.
He goes on to show (in a reasonably verbose fashion) that the evidence for microcredit improving 1 and/or 3 (poverty and industrialisation) is lacking. And he speculates that microfi ...more
The answer I got from the book was: it's unclear. David argues that microfinance can be viewed as development in 3 different ways; as escape from poverty, as freedom, or as industry building.
He goes on to show (in a reasonably verbose fashion) that the evidence for microcredit improving 1 and/or 3 (poverty and industrialisation) is lacking. And he speculates that microfi ...more

I learned 3 things
It is a very solid book. I learned these:
1) microfinance should be run like a business.
2) promotion of savings is more important than insurance which in turn is more important than credit. Trouble is, inflation is a disincentive.
3) I have been sceptical of quantitative models in social sciences. David Roodman has hammered that home elegantly.
Some thoughts:
My own microcredit firms collapsed one after another in China in the past nine years. I moved into bad-debt recovery and co ...more
It is a very solid book. I learned these:
1) microfinance should be run like a business.
2) promotion of savings is more important than insurance which in turn is more important than credit. Trouble is, inflation is a disincentive.
3) I have been sceptical of quantitative models in social sciences. David Roodman has hammered that home elegantly.
Some thoughts:
My own microcredit firms collapsed one after another in China in the past nine years. I moved into bad-debt recovery and co ...more

An important companion to the vast literature promoting microfinance, including Yunus's "Banker to the Poor" and other well-known works. As Roodman points out in logical detail, it turns out it is very hard to effectively help the global poor make economic progress. Capitalism (even with its rough edges), trade, commerce, and entrepreneurship are, I'm increasingly believing, the only way.
...more

Well-researched investigation of the impact microfinance has had on the world's poor. In short, Roodman concludes that funneling more foreign capital into microcredit endeavors at present is apt to fuel entrapment in debt rather than reduce poverty. The book's analysis is nuanced, though, and it is worth reading in full as Roodman deeply explores many dimensions of the topic.
...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Goodreads is hiring!
Related Articles
Listen up, because our colleagues here at Goodreads have some excellent audiobook recommendations for you! Of course, the books they've...
41 likes · 25 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »