Micro-enterprise Loans - in Orange County?
Copyright Jack Mixner. 714 449 1040. www.mixnerstrategy.com
Evidence suggests that economic growth in less developed regions of the world requires "economies of scale or scope or the use of new technologies capable of producing significant advances in overall productivity and incomes (Bhide, A16)." Micro loans in developing economies - without broad-based changes - aren't enough (even with Nobel Prize recognition including the recent award to Yunus this past year).
So where do micro-loans really work? Micro-loans might work better in impoverished areas in developed economies (Bhide, A16).
Orange County has problems - some severe - with unemployment and low incomes in various cities. Maybe a useful solution is a micro-loan program to stimulate growth in center city environs?
References
Bhide, Amar and Carl Schramm. Phelps's Prize. Wall Street Journal. 29 January 2007. A16.