An introduction to microfinance based on Portfolios of the Poor. The poor live on irregular income flows and needs--microfinance helps to manage the unpredictability.

Finance runs on trust but trust is scarce. We look at how law can help to generate trust using Mexico's security law and recent reforms as an example.

What is the role of a financial system? What is the evidence on the relationship between financial development and development?

Here's a very brief overview of what this important multilateral agency is all about.

What does the World Bank Group actually do?  What are the separate parts, and why has the institution apparently become less important over time?

There are some things we can do to help, and this video introduces what those might be, including the most succesful foreign aid program ever. Aid can help even when it doesn't generate sustained growth.

Why is it difficult to give effective foreign aid? We discuss knowledge problems, incentive problems and feedback and learning.

Who gives and who receives foreign aid? What do countries give? How much aid is tied?

How well has this effort really gone?  What kind of success can we expect?  Has such an approach been tried in the past?