Monthly Archives: November 2013

Lessons from macro-prudential policy in emerging markets

Posted on November 21, 2013 by

Last week, Donald Kohn, current member of Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee and former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors at the FED, gave a seminar at Oxford University on a key challenge faced by policymakers today: how … Continue reading →

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Banking in Africa: taking stock and looking forward

Posted on November 18, 2013 by

Banking in Africa has undergone dramatic changes over the past 20 years. While dominated by government-owned banks in the 1980s and subject to restrictive regulation – including interest rate ceilings and credit quotas – financial liberalization, institutional and regulatory upgrades … Continue reading →

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A loan shark in sheep’s clothing? Is commercialization of microfinance bad for borrower welfare?

Posted on November 12, 2013 by

After years of positive media attention and a Nobel Peace Prize for Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank, it’s been hard to miss the recent controversy surrounding the microfinance industry. Critical media reports have highlighted the role of high interest rates … Continue reading →

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World Development Report 2014: a missed opportunity?

Posted on November 5, 2013 by

The World Development Report is the flagship statement by the World Bank on development for the upcoming year. As someone who spends a considerable amount of time working on risk and insurance in developing countries, I was excited to see … Continue reading →

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The reverse couch potato effect: the impact of inspirational movies on aspirations and expectations

Posted on November 1, 2013 by

Documentary screening, iiG Programme (DFID funded) (Owner: Kate Orkin) – Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).Link to Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/   Do people believe that they are in control of their future outcomes? And how do expectations of what can … Continue reading →

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Posted in Policies to Protect the Poor | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments