Download or read book Confessions of a Microfinance Heretic written by Hugh Sinclair and published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers. This book was released on 2012-07-09 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Microfinance insider Hugh Sinclair weaves a shocking tale of an industry focused on maximizing profits and plagued by predatory lending practices, scandals, cover-ups and corruption.

Download or read book Small Money Big Impact written by Peter A. Fanconi and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2017-05-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Make your money make a difference—and enjoy attractive returns Small Money, Big Impact explores and explains the globally growing importance of impact investing. Today, the investor's perspective has become as important as the actual social impact. Based on their experience with over 25 million micro borrowers, the authors delve into the mechanics, considerations, data and strategies that make microloans and impact investing an attractive asset class. From the World Bank to the individual investor, impact investing is attracting more and more attention. Impact investing is a global megatrend and is reshaping the way people invest as pension funds, insurance companies, foundations, family offices and private investors jump on board. This book explains for the first time how it works, why it works and what you should know if you're ready to help change the world. Impact investing has proven over the last 20 years as the first-line offense against crushing poverty. Over two billion people still lack access to basic financial services, which are essential for improving their livelihood. Investors have experienced not only social and environmental impact, but have received attractive, stable and uncorrelated returns for over 15 years. This guide provides the latest insights and methodologies that help you reap the rewards of investing in humanity. Explore the global impact investing phenomenon Learn how microloans work, and how they make a difference Discover why investors are increasingly leaning into impact investing Consider the factors that inform impact investing decisions Part social movement and part financial strategy, impact investing offers the unique opportunity for investors to power tremendous change with a small amount of money— expanding their portfolios as they expand their own global impact. Microfinance allows investors at any level to step in where banks refuse to tread, offering opportunity to those who need it most. Small Money, Big Impact provides the expert guidance you need to optimize the impact on your portfolio and the world.

Download or read book Confessions of a Microfinance Heretic Large Print 16pt written by Hugh Sinclair and published by ReadHowYouWant. This book was released on 2012-07 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offering inspiring success stories, the microfinance industry depends on the faith of investors that small loans can transform the lives of the poor. But as Hugh Sinclair points out, very little solid evidence exists that microloans make a dent in long - term poverty. Evidence does exist for negligence, corruption, and methods that border on extortion. Part expose, part memoir, and part financial detective story, this is the account of a one - time true believer whose decade in the industry turned him into a heretic.Sinclair worked with several microfinance institutions and funds as he traveled from Mexico to Mongolia, with Nigeria, Holland, and Mozambique in between. He couldn't help but notice that even with a booming 70 billion dollar industry on their side, the poor didn't seem any better off in practice. Exorbitant interest rates led borrowers into never - ending debt spirals, and aggressive collection practices resulted in cases of forced prostitution, child labor, suicide, and nationwide revolts against the microfinance community.With characteristic intelligence and biting wit, Sinclair weaves a shocking tale of a system increasingly focused on maximizing profits. The situation worsened when large banks, attracted by the high repayment rates of overpriced loans, hijacked the sector and created a microfinance bubble. Sinclair details his discovery of several scandals, one of the most disturbing involving a large African microfinance institution of questionable legality that charged interest rates in excess of 100 percent per year, and whose investors and supporters included some of the most celebrated leaders of the microfinance sector. Sinclair's objections were first met with silence, then threats, attempted bribery, and a court case, and eventually led him to become a principle whistleblower in a sector that had lost its soul.Microfinance can work - Sinclair describes moving experiences with several ethical and effective organizations and analyzes what made them different. But without the fundamental reforms that Sinclair recommends here, microfinance will remain an ''investment opportunity'' that will leave the poor with hollow promises and empty pockets.

Download or read book Confessions of a Microfinance Heretic 16pt Large Print Edition written by Hugh Sinclair and published by . This book was released on 2012-07-09 with total page 626 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A microfinance Industry insider offers a shocking account of corruption and betrayal of the poor by an industry supposedly dedicated to doing good. Hugh SInclair is one of the rare field workers who has seen microloans at ground level; he concludes that predatory lending and profit pressure are causing most microloans to do far more harm than good. This is the sad tale of a good idea gone horribly bad.

Download or read book Brave New Weed written by Joe Dolce and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2016-10-04 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Extraordinary Exercise ProgramBased on the Revolutionary Body-Improvement SystemDeveloped by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais With these brief (ten to thirty minutes) exercises, anyone can learn to improve their posture, flexibility, and physical comfort, and end the energy drain caused by muscular tension. This popular application of techniques -- never before available in such an easy-to-use form -- targets such key areas as the lower back, shoulders, neck, spine, eyes, feet, and jaw. Enhanced vitality and elimination of pain and stress will be yours through these thoroughly researched and patient-tested techniques that actually reprogram the neuromuscular system.

Download or read book Microfinance Institutions written by R. Mersland and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-12-11 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research on MFI performance is still in its infancy. MFIs are hybrid organizations with dual objectives. Performance studies in microfinance are therefore less straightforward compared to performance studies in traditional banking research. This book contains new MFI performance research by top scholars from across the globe.

Download or read book Creating a World Without Poverty written by Muhammad Yunus and published by Public Affairs. This book was released on 2009-01-06 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author describes his vision for an innovative business model that would combine the power of free markets with a quest for a more humane, egalitarian world that could help alleviate world poverty, inequality, and other social problems.

Download or read book Confessions of a Bible Thumper written by Michael Camp and published by Engage Faith. This book was released on 2012-06 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What happens when a devout religious conservative questions his own evangelical traditions using the Socratic principle, and follows where the evidence leads? ... This brutally honest personal pilgrimage challenges and encourages readers to rethink all things sacred and embrace a faith full of grace and reason.

Download or read book Chile The Carretera Austral written by Hugh Sinclair and published by Bradt Travel Guides. This book was released on 2015-12-18 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chile: Carretera Austral Travel Guide - Travel advice and expert holiday tips featuring Ruta 7 and Coyhaique highlights, natural history and wildlife. This guide also covers suggested itineraries and tour operators, driving and hiking, Caleta Tortel, Villa O'Higgins, Puerto Montt, national parks like Queulat, Hornopirén and Laguna San Rafael.

Download or read book Why Doesn t Microfinance Work written by Milford Bateman and published by Zed Books Ltd.. This book was released on 2010-06-10 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since its emergence in the 1970s, microfinance has risen to become one of the most high-profile policies to address poverty in developing and transition countries. It is beloved of rock stars, movie stars, royalty, high-profile politicians and ‘troubleshooting’ economists. In this provocative and controversial analysis, Milford Bateman reveals that microfinance doesn’t actually work. In fact, the case for it has been largely built on hype, on egregious half-truths and – latterly – on the Wall Street-style greed of those promoting and working in microfinance. Using a multitude of case studies, from India to Cambodia, Bolivia to Uganda, Serbia to Mexico, Bateman demonstrates that microfi nance actually constitutes a major barrier to sustainable economic and social development, and thus also to sustainable poverty reduction. As developing and transition countries attempt to repair the devastation wrought by the global financial crisis, Why Doesn’t Microfinance Work? argues forcefully that the role of microfinance in development policy urgently needs to be reconsidered.

Download or read book Handbook on Ethics in Finance written by Leire San-Jose and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 600 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Political Economy of Microfinance written by Philip Mader and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-01-12 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to the author, rather than alleviating poverty, microfinance financialises poverty. By indebting poor people in the Global South, it drives financial expansion and opens new lands of opportunity for the crisis-ridden global capital markets. This book raises fundamental concerns about this widely-celebrated tool for social development.

Download or read book The Heretic s Guide to Global Finance written by Brett Scott and published by Pluto Press. This book was released on 2013-05-14 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Popular anger against bankers and financial speculators has never been greater, yet the practical workings of the system remain opaque to many people. The Heretic's Guide to Global Finance aims to bridge the gap between protest slogans and practical proposals for reform. As a stockbroker turned campaigner, Brett Scott has a unique understanding of life inside and outside the system. The Heretic's Guide to Global Finance is a practical handbook for campaigners, academics and students who wish to deepen their understanding of the inner workings of the financial sector. It shows how financial knowledge can be used to build effective social and environmental campaigns. Scott covers topics frequently overlooked, such as the cultural aspects of the financial sector, and considers major issues such as agricultural speculation, carbon markets and tar sands financing. The book shows how activists can use the internal dynamics of the sector to reform it and showcases the growing alternative finance movement.

Download or read book Confessions of a Bible Salesman written by Kelley Litsch and published by Xulon Press. This book was released on 2013-06 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was 1981, during his junior year at college, Kelley Litsch was about to go on an adventure of a lifetime. Starting with a prayer at the side of his bed of his dorm room in April, he gave God complete control over his summer. Within minutes of the prayer, God started moving and did not stop. This adventure involved the occupation as a door-to-door bible salesman, but life-long lessons emerged. His daily forays into the hills of Virginia and North Carolina introduced him to a new way of life; a life of daily dependence upon God including miracles, close calls with death, and meeting some of the finest people on earth, and some not so fine. This book gives great examples of faith, constant prayer, leadership, and tenacity. Mainly it tells the story of what God can do with a willing believer using that person's personality. Kelley Litsch was raised on a farm near Lockney, Texas and moved to Altus, Oklahoma as a teenager when both parents became schoolteachers. He graduated with a Psychology degree from Oklahoma State University in 1982. He has worked in the property and casualty insurance field since graduation. He has taught as well as led small groups in church for the past three decades. He and wife Lisa live outside of Lubbock, Texas and have two children and two grandchildren.

Download or read book Gilded Lives Fatal Voyage written by Hugh Brewster and published by Crown. This book was released on 2012-03-27 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage takes us behind the paneled doors of the Titanic’s elegant private suites to present compelling, memorable portraits of her most notable passengers. The Titanic has often been called "An exquisite microcosm of the Edwardian era,” but until now, her story has not been presented as such. In Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage, historian Hugh Brewster seamlessly interweaves personal narratives of the lost liner’s most fascinating people with a haunting account of the fateful maiden crossing. Employing scrupulous research and featuring 100 rarely seen photographs, he accurately depicts the ship’s brief life and tragic denouement and presents compelling, memorable portraits of her most notable passengers: millionaires John Jacob Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim; President Taft's closest aide, Major Archibald Butt; writer Helen Churchill Candee; the artist Frank Millet; movie actress Dorothy Gibson; the celebrated couturiere Lady Duff Gordon; aristocrat Noelle, the Countess of Rothes; and a host of other travelers. Through them, we gain insight into the arts, politics, culture, and sexual mores of a world both distant and near to our own. And with them, we gather on the Titanic’s sloping deck on that cold, starlit night and observe their all-too-human reactions as the disaster unfolds. More than ever, we ask ourselves, “What would we have done?”

Download or read book Radical Innocent Upton Sinclair written by Anthony Arthur and published by Random House. This book was released on 2007-12-18 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few American writers have revealed their private as well as their public selves so fully as Upton Sinclair, and virtually none over such a long lifetime (1878—1968). Sinclair’s writing, even at its most poignant or electrifying, blurred the line between politics and art–and, indeed, his life followed a similar arc. In Radical Innocent: Upton Sinclair, Anthony Arthur weaves the strands of Sinclair’s contentious public career and his often-troubled private life into a compelling personal narrative. An unassuming teetotaler with a fiery streak, called a propagandist by some, the most conservative of revolutionaries by others, Sinclair was such a driving force of history that one could easily mistake his life story for historical fiction. He counted dozens of epochal figures as friends or confidants, including Mark Twain, Jack London, Henry Ford, Thomas Mann, H. G. Wells, Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, Charlie Chaplin, Albert Camus, and Carl Jung. Starting with The Jungle in 1906, Sinclair’s fiction and nonfiction helped to inform and mold American opinions about socialism, labor and industry, religion and philosophy, the excesses of the media, American political isolation and pacifism, civil liberties, and mental and physical health. In his later years, Sinclair twice reinvented himself, first as the Democratic candidate for governor of California in 1934, and later, in his sixties and seventies, as a historical novelist. In 1943 he won a Pulitzer Prize for Dragon’s Teeth, one of eleven novels featuring super-spy Lanny Budd. Outside the literary realm, the ever-restless Sinclair was seemingly everywhere: forming Utopian artists’ colonies, funding and producing Sergei Eisenstein’s film documentaries, and waging consciousness-raising political campaigns. Even when he wasn’t involved in progressive causes or counterculture movements, his name often was invoked by them–an arrangement that frequently embroiled Sinclair in controversy. Sinclair’ s passion and optimistic zeal inspired America, but privately he could be a frustrated, petty man who connected better with his readers than with members of his own family. His life with his first wife, Meta, his son David, and various friends and professional acquaintances was a web of conflict and strain. Personally and professionally ambitious, Sinclair engaged in financial speculation, although his wealth-generating schemes often benefited his pet causes–and he lobbied as tirelessly for professional recognition and awards as he did for government reform. As the tenor of his work would suggest, Sinclair was supremely human. In Radical Innocent: Upton Sinclair, Anthony Arthur offers an engrossing and enlightening account of Sinclair’s life and the country he helped to transform. Taking readers from the Reconstruction South to the rise of American power to the pinnacle of Hollywood culture to the Civil Rights era, this is historical biography at its entertaining and thought-provoking finest.

Download or read book When People Care Enough to Act written by Mike Green and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Developed in response to the question "I love ABCD (Asset Based Community Development); what do I do Monday Morning?"--and based on Mike Green & Henry Moore's highly regarded work as ABCD organizers, consultants and trainers--these materials support a practical approach to creating community collaborations that work. Enriching each other, the book and the DVD provide clear exposition of ABCD organizing principles and best practices, examples of ABCD organizing in action, learning exercises, worksheets, and reflections from experienced practitioners of ABCD organizing. Main topics include: ABCD Principles & Practice Discovering What People Care About Mobilizing A Community's Assets People & Programs: We Need Both Leading By Stepping Back: The Role Of Governments & Agencies Inclusion: There Is No One We Do Not Need John McKnight's Reflections On ABCD organizing. Lessons from Ashville NC, Marque.e, MI, Laconia, NH, Savannah, GA, Ames, IO.