Hi Daniel -
I pretty much agree with what you say but health care can be bad (and kill people) and education be bad (brainwashing to pernicious ends). So pretty any sector can be damaging.
I think the problem is when we use the word "inclusion" attached to anything. Inclusion sounds like people want to be included. They don't want to be included in bad health care, extractive financial services, or have their children brainwashed to undertake destructive activities.There is nothing generically good about health inclusion, education inclusion or financial inclusion, if the service on offer is bad. Or the people behind the service are negligent, malicious and smug.
Language has been spun in favor of a financial inclusion that on the surface sounds like inclusion is an automatic good, when we know there is nothing automatic about responsible, helpful financial services. It takes huge amounts of integrity. Perhaps each of us has seen such integrity - I know I have - from the local bank round our corner to the credit union in the middle of a jungle, or to the leadership of an MFI that worries about the welfare of its clientele. But my examples are few and illustrate more about the people in charge of the organization, than any generic notion of inclusion.
Best,
Kim
Kim Wilson
Faculty, Fletcher School, Tufts University (617-763-2469)
Kimberley.Wilson@Tufts.Edu
Faculty, Fletcher School, Tufts University (617-763-2469)
Kimberley.Wilson@Tufts.Edu
From: "danrozas@yahoo.com [MicrofinancePractice]" <MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com>
To: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2016 11:28 AM
Subject: RE: [MFP] Digest Number 3913
This is a discussion that I haven't really ventured into for some time. Easy to get caught in the weeds and needless arguments. But it is nevertheless a discussion worth having.
Hugh -- just to be clear, I like savings groups and find them a potentially powerful tool in certain contexts. But they're by no means the only answer, and will not address the needs of many who are still very much excluded from financial services.
I do also struggle with the very notion of financial inclusion on its own, and don't actually subscribe to the idea that financial inclusion is an inherent good, the way education or health care are. It can be a force for good, but just as often can bring harm. And even the good is arguably quite modest. The average family living on $2/day would take a steady, even if low-paying, job over any suite of loans/savings/insurance. It's too easy to oversell the importance of what we do. It can be useful, yes, but only rarely is it life-changing.
Finally, as to the idea of debt and savings and the appropriateness of each, a few years back I'd put together a framework to help guide one to the right answer. I find it helpful to re-read from time to time, and find it's still quite useful for me. You may find it useful too:
Daniel
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Posted by: Kim Wilson <orientrow@yahoo.com>
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