U-S-A!!!

One of the appeals of using through Kiva is the exotic flavor of the lending options.  Browsing through the list of recipients is an education in the world's lesser known nations.  I mean, Kyrgyzstan?  I had to look up three times how to spell it, and I'm still pretty sure I got it wrong.  I did learn that Kyrgyzstan is the Switzerland is Central Asia, and that's exactly the kind of fun fact that ensures I never have an awkward conversation.

Sometimes, though, you have to look inside and explore the most exotic country of all: America.

There was an article in the Post last week about some dude with a dog-walking business who couldn't get a loan from the usual sources (banks, uncles, mafia), so he hit up the Latino Economic Development Corp. for a microloan.  Apparently banks won't bother with anything under $200,000, and it takes a lot less than that to put together something called "Dog Paws 'n Cat Claws."  So good for that guy.

Kiva doesn't have a lot for American entrepreneurs.  Right now the only one up there is Lazaro, a Miami barber who needs ten grand.

There are, apparently, a few good reasons for this.  American loan-seekers generally need more money than Kyrgyzstaners or whomever, and we can get credit cards.  So maybe this just isn't a good environment for microlending.

But the only Kiva partner offering anything in this country - Accion USA - is doing well enough to have an imitator spam site that tries to steal your credit card info, so there must be something going on.  At this point, it seems, like gladiatorial contests and the fourth declension, to be a largely Latin phenomenon.  But that could change, and maybe in the near future it won't require a field trip to Azerbaijan to prove that you're not getting ripped off.