Journal of Economic Literature
Book Reviews
2026-09-01
Stephen C. Smith of George Washington University reviews “Portfolios of the Poor: How the World’s Poor Live on $2 a Day” by Daryl Collins, Jonathan Morduch, Stuart Rutherford, Orlanda Ruthven,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Presents a systematic analysis of how the world’s poor find financial solutions to living on incomes of two dollars a day or less, drawing upon financial diaries of families in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa. Discusses the portfolios of the poor; the daily grind; dealing with risk; building blocks--creating usefully large sums; the price of money; rethinking microfinance--the Grameen II diaries; and better portfolios. Collins is Senior Associate at Bankable Frontier Associates in Boston. Morduch is Professor of Public Policy and Economics at New York University. Rutherford is founder of the SafeSave microfinance institution. Ruthven recently completed a doctoral degree in international development. Bibliography; index.”