A smart editorial discussion over at WorldChanging on the subject of the debated benefits of microlending:

An interesting debate about the efficacy of microfinance has been going on lately, pitting development experts and economists against one another as they seek to understand the impact of microfinance on economic growth and well-being.

The whole thing started with an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. In it, Amar Bhide and Carl Schramm argue that microenterprise, fueled by microfinance, is less good than a “transformative entrepreneurship” enabled by policy reform. Their basic point is that everyone is not cut out to be an entrepreneur, and that simple access to finance is not enough - people need jobs, and to create jobs countries need better business environments.