US economy entered yet another soft patch around July-2011. The soft patch was followed by one of the most unprecedented events in world economic history on August 5, 2011– S&P downgrading US credit rating. After all it was only on Aug 2, 2011 that US Congress revised its debt ceiling upwards and most expected the downgrade will not happen in immediate future.

This downgrade coupled with weak economic data led to complete chaos with bloodbath all around the world markets. The pace of events was unsettling as most felt that markets were better prepared for any crisis after witnessing the Lehman and European debt crisis. However, what markets got was completely a different scenario of collapsing markets and re-emergence of another Lehman moment. From the optimism in early part of the year, another round of doom has set in. This time the situation is even bleaker as in Lehman, government took over the firefighting mode. This time with several major economies facing sovereign debt crisis and having no ammunition, one is wondering who will play the firefighting role?

The financial/economic crisis in Greece defies the comprehension of even professional economists!

The on-going Greece Crisis (actually a full blown European Monetary Union crisis now) is increasingly becoming unintelligible. The genesis of the crisis was clear, as Greece was living beyond its means for many years, but the resolution of the crisis has been just beyond comprehension.

An investigative journalist for 20 years, Tom Heinemann has raised some unsettling questions about microfinance and more importantly, about Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, pioneer of the funding model, in his documentary Caught in a micro debt. In this interview, he talks about microfinance and his other documentaries made on sweatshops and violation of labour rights in India. Heinemann believes that he should play the role of a 'pebble in the shoe', constantly asking disturbing questions.

By Asha menon