About That Microloan Mention In 'Crazy Rich Asians' ...

Editor's Note: This story was originally published on November 1, 2016 and has been updated.

Crazy Rich Asians is, of course, not a movie about global development. But as it happens, the topic gets a cameo in the rom-com.

Main character Rachel Chu (played by Constance Wu) is a professor of economics. And on a trip to Singapore to meet the family of her "crazy rich" boyfriend Nick, she goes to a big wedding and runs into a Malay princess, who's written an article about ... microloans.

Rachel compliments her on the article. The princess says actually she was criticized for it. And Rachel says that the critics must have missed the point, because, according to Rachel, microloans help women and women are drivers of the larger economy.

So who's right? Are microloans a good way to lift people out of poverty — or not?

Back in 2016, as part of a callout for story ideas, an NPR reader asked Goats and Soda a similar question: "I would like to know more about microloans, and if they are in fact helping women start businesses in the developing world."

Here's our answer.

You've probably heard the stories. A desperately poor woman in a poor country gets a tiny loan — a