Few poverty alleviation approaches have received more recognition than microfinance. When Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Prize for his pioneering work bringing banking services to the poor, microfinance was hailed as the panacea to ending global poverty.  A few years later, problems in India caused some to call microfinance a tool of debt entrapment.  Slicing through the media hype, this course presents a realistic view of the tool and how it can be used most effectively.