Microfinance has been a long-lived development movement since the 1980s. In 2005 it enjoyed the accolade of a UN international year and in 2007 one of the founding fathers of microfinance received a Nobel Prize. However, despite the undoubted successes, there are also some important problems and fundamental questions to be addressed. Is microfinance really a step on the road to economic growth, or is it a short-term palliative, keeping poor people poor? Can an MFI really work if it embraces the 'double bottom line' of both profit and social good? Is microfinance, especially credit, harmful, often landing the vulnerable poor in debt? Should microfinance be reaching the poorest? The chapters, written by well-known experts in the field, are grouped around the categories: clients, institutions, and expectations. The authors aim to sound a timely warning to governments, bankers, donors and the general public and to encourage a rethink of expectations and policies. Microfinance can never be a panacea and may sometimes be actively damaging to its intended Customers.