endorsements
" Confessions of a Microfinance Heretic is essential reading for anyone interested in development economics, a disturbing and yet ultimately hopeful exposé. "
John Perkins, New York Times bestselling author of Confessions of an Economic Hitman
" This is a very important and courageous book. Hugh Sinclair tells a gripping story of idealism, naivete, callousness, greed, and corruption in the microfinance industry to show how it has been overrun by a new breed of loan sharks that make us believe they are helping the poor when they are actually exploiting them. This sobering tale should be a valuable guide to a reform programme that will save what is still good in microfinance and help it make the contribution it can make, without the absurd hype that has characterised the industry. "
Ha-Joon Chang, University of Cambridge, author of Bad Samaritans and 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism
" After many years working as a trouble-shooting advisor in the microfinance industry, Hugh Sinclair now comes clean to show how it was that Wall Street’s values, methodologies and ambitions - and even many Wall Street individuals too – made the leap into microfinance, and in a short space of time effectively destroyed what was once a hugely celebrated and ‘feel-good’ industry. In often excruciating but sometimes hilarious detail, Sinclair describes how he was sucked into the global feeding frenzy created by the microfinance industry’s determined search for profit. With its easily available yet all too often hugely expensive microloans, he angrily exposes how it was that the microfinance industry ended up destroying the lives of the very people they were supposed to be helping. This is an explosive book. For anyone who still labours under the illusion that microfinance was ‘all about helping the poor’ – that is, a very large number of ordinary people and development ‘experts’ all over the world - Sinclair’s passionate, lively and eye-opening expose of the inner workings of the microfinance industry is an absolute must-read. "
Milford Bateman, Freelance consultant, Visiting Professor of Economics at the University of Juraj Dobrila at Pula in Croatia, and author of Why Doesn’t Microfinance Work? The Destructive Rise of Local Neoliberalism
" An intriguing book that cuts to the core of microfinance. If you are looking to understand and invest in effective microfinance, this book provides an overview and helps you select the vehicle that suits your needs. Good microfinance is undoubtedly possible...structure, dedication, and full transparency is the way forward. "
Mads Kjaer and Tim Vang, Cofounders, MYC4.com
" Provides a devastating, insightful, and well-documented look into the tragic reality of how a good idea was derailed by the Wall Street greed syndrome. It is essential reading not only for anyone involved in microcredit but also for all who seek an end to global poverty and injustice. "
David Korten, Board Chair, Yes! Magazine, and author of Agenda for a New Economy and When Corporations Rule the World