Includes bibliographical references (p. [299]-320) and index.

Introduction: a golden pendulum -- Context for credit : a setting at the source of the Nile -- Three faces of the loan : charity, usury-- and fantasy -- Plans and dreams : an integrated approach on paper -- Lenders and lineages : nepotism as loyalty -- Untying a package deal : borrowing green revolution technology -- Debts and dodges : the moral and the hazard in repayment -- In a white elephant's shadow : reversal and repetition -- Wildfire : tobacco contract farming -- Self-help and the underground : individual incentive and the group guarantee -- Self-help with help : banking between charity and usury -- Crossing back : rethinking credit between cultures.

Electronic reproduction. Palo Alto, Calif. : ebrary, 2011. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ebrary affiliated libraries.