What’s a hundred dollars from the perspective of a low-income, base of the pyramid community? That question should be viewed in a new light in the weeks after Muhammad Yunus was announced as the Nobel Peace Prize winner. A hundred bucks? That’s a micro-loan, of course, to be made through Yunus’ Grameen Bank or any of its surrogates around the world. Perhaps the cutting edge answer is to loan the hundred peer-to-peer through Kiva, or invest it in a for-profit microfinance fund, as reported in a lengthy, well-researched New Yorker article. All are worthy responses, but microfinance is not the be-all, end-all answer to the perspective question.

In the new APP (After Peace Prize) world, the barrage of media coverage about microfinance has overshadowed an important fact: some people are too poor for loans, or simply scared of credit. What does this mean for the development, philanthropic, and policymaking communities? Perhaps they should take a closer look at organizations like Trickle Up, a non-profit that provides seed grants (not loans) of $100 and business training to aspiring microentrepreneurs worldwide.

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