What do they say about free lunches?

When someone offers you an incentive of say $25 to lend on Kiva, you might think there was a scam. Why would anyone give you money to lend out and then potentially take it back when it was repaid? I’ve not read the small print, so this may not be possible, but it is interesting to know how much organisations are prepared to pay to get an extra customer.

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Frustrated investor?

Savers and investors alike have been stuck for choice since interest rates have languished at 0.5 per cent for now almost 3 years. So what to do?

The problem for savers, unlike investors who can afford to lose their investment, is compounded as alternatives usually come with greater risks and not so transparent transaction costs. Accounts outstripping inflation may require savers to squirrel their money away for at least 3 years – though for most people this is just fine. Savers should avoid riskier assets and be wary of being misled by banks into buying inappropriate products. Most banks will make more than you out of the deal.
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Model the madness

Here at Kivaclub we are interested in numbers behind the current financial market madness. Why e.g. is it that Japan is so much more indebted than Italy, but can borrow at just 1%? The Economist stated somewhere that Italy is basically not insolvent, so one argument is that markets are forcing political change, but undemocratically. See for yourself what happens if you increase the cost of country borrowing by running your own ‘what if scenarios’ using the Economist’s handy calculator below.

To Catch A Dollar

The documentary film ‘To Catch A Dollar: Muhammad Yunus Banks On America’ follows the opening of the first American branch of the Grameen Bank, offering collateral-free loans to some of the poorest but most determined women in Queens, New York. The creator of the Grameen Bank, and the concept of microloans, Muhammad Yunus visits the Queens branch in the midst of his whirlwind global travels as he tries to raise awareness and support for micro-finance and social business.

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