Sunday, January 30, 2011

microfinance god yunus, nobel prize winner, in some trouble

jan 30th, 2011

charitable interpretation: yunus has lost it with age, but refuses to step down. 

a bit like verghese kurien, the god of amul, although i do wonder in his case also how much of it is clever marketing (helped by buddies in the elm like fellow kerala xtists bg verghese, tn ninan, kgs george et al) and how much is real.

uncharitable interpretation: microfinance is a huge fraud. 

this suspicion arises because of the enthusiasm of india's stalinists for the idea, and the concomitant crony capitalist moves that have helped folks like SKS microfinance to make huge money. 

and now they are trotting out this new hoax of 'inclusive growth' which basically means "more funds diverted from the taxpaying hindu public to our party cadres, mohammedans and xtists". more hare-brained schemes like NREGA.


incidentally, 108,000 crores disappeared into NREGA schemes, and there have been no audits. i suspect much of this money now resides in swiss accounts belonging to the rich and famous. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/nrega-rs-1l-cr-spent-so-far-but-no-audit/articleshow/7388433.cms

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