Poverty, Social Exclusion and Microfinance in Britain

"Microfinance" or "Microcredit" are new buzz words in the literature of development and social exclusion. Some argue that poor people are poor because they lack access to economic resources: give poor people access to financial liquidity (to Microfinance) and they will stop being poor.

This important book analyzes the potential of neighborhood-based financial services to reduce poverty and combat social exclusion in Britain. From an analysis of the nature and causes of poverty in the UK the authors move to a critical review of the outcomes of Microfinance interventions around the world. They consider innovative economic responses to poverty in countries such as Bangladesh and Bolivia. Then, drawing on their own research, they set out ways to counter financial exclusion in Britain: how to enable people to build assets and acquire capital, and provide mechanisms for the wealth retention in communities deserted by conventional banks.

A truly global and critical view of what can so easily be presented as the panacea for poverty. Published by Oxfam GB in association with the New Economics Foundation.