The whole microloan program has been hyped for over a decade now, but as this story shows, the outcome more often than not has been more like mafia loansharking than actual economic development under the entrepreneurial free-market model. This can be explained via the notion that "enterpreneurs without lawyers end up getting screwed over more often than not" and the people who get these microloans just can't afford to hire lawyers to protect themselves.<p>While it's a right-wing trope, the microloan program has been heavily promoted by the likes of the Soros-Omidyar crowd, with the typical humanitarian patina covering what's really just predatory capitalism:<p><i>"We have seen what microloans can do at the individual level and are excited about bringing that same opportunity to small and medium businesses," said Jim Bunch, Director of Investments at Omidyar Network.</i><p>Here's another expository write-up of the phenomenon, in Cambodia. Looks very similar to India, Mexico, etc.<p><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2019/8/6/cambodias-micro-loans-a-form-of-predatory-lending" rel="nofollow">https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2019/8/6/cambodias-micro-l...</a><p>[edit] for more on background on this global trend and its origins (2007)<p>> "Microcredit is the newest silver bullet for alleviating poverty. Wealthy philanthropists such as financier George Soros and eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar are pledging hundreds of millions of dollars to the microcredit movement. Global commercial banks, such as Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG, are establishing microfinance funds. Even people with just a few dollars to spare are going to microcredit Web sites and, with a click of the mouse, lending money to rice farmers in Ecuador and auto mechanics in Togo... Wealthy philanthropists, banks, and online donors aren’t the only ones fascinated with microcredit. The United Nations designated 2005 as the International Year of Microcredit..."<p><a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/microfinance_misses_its_mark" rel="nofollow">https://ssir.org/articles/entry/microfinance_misses_its_mark</a>