Development Days Globalization’s microfinance cat’s paw   By Michael Neri Free market ideologues were thrilled to see the global microfinance industry grow from small beginnings in Bangladesh to a goliath with a loan portfolio of over $ 65 billion, disbursed by over 3000 sizeable institutions (and thousands of smaller ones) to an estimated 95 million borrowers in over 40 countries, as of 2010. After all, they argued, Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) used market mechanisms to address poverty, as opposed to aid and welfare giveaways which, they said, created dependency and distorted...