Indeed, the financial pragmatism of working-class and poor women is the reason for the successes in the developing world of micro-financing that puts money in their hands. It would surprise me if middle-class women anywhere in the world – brought up to view certain forms of economic ignorance and naiveté as socially appropriate – could, without climbing a steep learning curve, be as reliable and hard-nosed as the world’s poor and working-class women consistently prove themselves to be.