I just discovered Kiva.org and it seems like an awesome concept. Basically, it allows individuals to pool their resources to help entrepreneurs in poor countries get off the ground. You can make loans as small as $25 to someone who needs it. The cool thing is that once the loan is paid back, your account is credited and you can reloan the same funds to someone else, helping MANY people over time with the same initial investment (or you can withdraw the money via paypal if you really need it). The current repayment rate is 99% so these folks obviously know what they are doing. This just seemed like a great cause so I thought I'd spread the word here. If we get enough people, perhaps we could form a TA group and get a little friendly competition going with the other groups on the site.

i dunno cap. that sounds an awful lot like socialism to me

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Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN i dunno cap. that sounds an awful lot like socialism to me

not rly..socialism is coercive..this is voluntary, the way it should be.

This is going to sound terribly uncharitable; however, I'm wondering what the interest rates are like... I didn't see them posted.

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Originally posted by RickyM you're just a shit version of Moral Hazard. At least he knows what he's talking about.

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Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN lol, i love it when moral feels the need to lay the smack down

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Originally posted by Capitalizt not rly..socialism is coercive..this is voluntary, the way it should be.

ok...lending money at artificially low rates will create inflationary pressures

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Originally posted by Moral Hazard This is going to sound terribly uncharitable; however, I'm wondering what the interest rates are like... I didn't see them posted.

moral hazard: third-world money lender.

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Originally posted by Capitalizt I just discovered Kiva.org and it seems like an awesome concept. Basically, it allows individuals to pool their resources to help entrepreneurs in poor countries get off the ground. You can make loans as small as $25 to someone who needs it. The cool thing is that once the loan is paid back, your account is credited and you can reloan the same funds to someone else, helping MANY people over time with the same initial investment (or you can withdraw the money via paypal if you really need it). The current repayment rate is 99% so these folks obviously know what they are doing. This just seemed like a great cause so I thought I'd spread the word here. If we get enough people, perhaps we could form a TA group and get a little friendly competition going with the other groups on the site.

How do you know it goes to the people directly, and not some corrupt scammer?

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Originally posted by DJ Mikey Mike Social outcasts are often of the opinion that they must have a drink before being able to loosen up with their inhibitions, thus being able to have a good time. There's a word that sums up this sort of behaviour, and that word is 'reject.'

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Originally posted by _Ocean_Drive_ How do you know it goes to the people directly, and not some corrupt scammer?

Well, microcredit is a common concept, and I've heard on the BBC about some websites that do just that... so I take it this is how it works.

And what sort of scammer would risk getting in trouble for just a few dollars?

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Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN moral hazard: third-world money lender.

I'm just trying to figure out if this should be regarded as charity or capitalism.

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Originally posted by RickyM you're just a shit version of Moral Hazard. At least he knows what he's talking about.

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Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN lol, i love it when moral feels the need to lay the smack down

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Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN i dunno cap. that sounds an awful lot like socialism to me

It sounds more like a promising Ponzi scheme to me, but call me a pessimist.

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Originally posted by Arbiter It sounds more like a promising Ponzi scheme to me, but call me a pessimist.

So it's charity?

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Yeah sounds kinda cool. I researched a little bit about these types of microcredit systems in a couple of courses I took this year. It's a really good way to facilitate sustainability in developing countries - and to fight the evil forces of globalization (heh).

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Originally posted by _Ocean_Drive_ How do you know it goes to the people directly, and not some corrupt scammer?

Click the "about" page and read about how it works. They have been around for years and do regular audits on the "field partners" administering loans. There is a rating from one to five stars on each loan page revealing the financial health of the field partner. To date, the overall repayment rate is something like 98.9%..so the vast majority of loans do get paid back.

And moral hazard, the interest rates vary depending on country and risk factors. You just get your loan amount back when it is repaid though. The interest goes to the cost of running the programs..not the lenders, hence the word "charity".

Last edited by Capitalizt on Jan-05-2011 at 15:22