How I inadvertently launched a global kidney trading exchange

"I am 22 years old, male, married, Indonesia, healthy, want to donate the one of my kidney. My blood group is O+, I'm not drink, not use drugs, and never have any kidney deseases. I want to donate my kidney for the exchange just for US$15,000.00 for my kidney, because I have a financial problem and I must gift lived for my wife and my daughter for they further."

Back in January, I wrote a story for Asia Sentinel about Singapore's decision to legalise the payment of compensation to organ donors - a controversial move that critics argue will allow de facto organ trading.

I didn't think much about the story until last week, when I was alerted to the fact that the comments section had been overtaken by people from all over the world (like our Indonesian friend above) seemingly trying to flog their kidneys for cash.

There's no way of knowing if these people are merely scamsters but their adverts appear genuine, with some showing serious knowledge about the transplant health screening process.

Interestingly, there's quite a wide price differential, suggesting that the current global market for kidneys is extremely inefficient.

While Ageng, our Indonesian seller, wants US$15,000 for his O+ organ and some others want as much as US$25,000, Rajravi, from Hyderabad, India, is happy to sell his for just US$7,000 (or 3.25-3.5 lakh rupees). Interested parties can contact Ageng on kidneyforsell@hotmail.com or +62 838 5838 199 and Rajravi on 09346596588.

Of the 13 offerors, many seem to be based in Asia. Four are from India, two from Indonesia and one from the Philippines. But there is a representative from East Africa, Kenney from Kenya who is healthy and has "never used any drug due to religion", and, perhaps surprisingly, one from Germany.

All of which got me thinking that there must be a lot of money to be made by starting up a proper global organ trading exchange, a concept which has been suggested by some maverick transplant surgeons in the past (see article here).

There's clearly no shortage of willing sellers around the world and there are many ailing businessmen too unhealthy or old to qualify for a transplant through the usual channels that would be willing buyers.

Before the green ink brigade (or their online equivalent, the caps-lock brigade) burst any blood vessels, I should emphasise that I'm not condoning (or criticising) the practice of organ trading.

Just explaining that it could be a very profitable business for someone with the cojones and legal nous to set up a global organ exchange.

Micro-credit bubbling over in South Asia?

Microfinance has been the in thing in the development world for quite some time, with Muhammad Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for setting up Grameen Bank, the man of the moment.

But an interesting piece in today's Wall Street Journal suggests that a microfinance bubble could be forming in India (the story is behind a paywall here but I've pasted the intro below).

The WSJ story seems to tally with what I heard when I was in Bangladesh back in June. One businessman who ran a charitable foundation told me that his organisation was having to move away from micro-credit provision because the market was so saturated.

While the idea behind microfinance was that it would provide poor entrepreneurs with access to much needed funding, in reality the rapid expansion of credit was driven by consumer spending on new TVs and mobile phones.

It's hard to argue that individual Bangladeshi or Indian farmers shouldn't be lent money to buy things that make their lives more enjoyable but we all know the risks of rapidly expanding credit to fund additional consumer spending.

RAMANAGARAM, India -- A credit crisis is brewing in "microfinance," the business of making the tiniest loans in the world.

Microlending fights poverty by helping poor people finance small businesses -- snack stalls, fruit trees, milk-producing buffaloes -- in slums and other places where it's tough to get a normal loan. But what began as a social experiment to aid the world's poorest has also shown it can turn a profit.

That has attracted private-equity funds and other foreign investors, who've poured billions of dollars over the past few years into microfinance world-wide. (See related article "For Global Investors, 'Microfinance' Funds Pay Off -- So Far" -- WSJ August 13, 2009.)

The result: Today in India, some poor neighborhoods are being "carpet-bombed" with loans, says Rajalaxmi Kamath, a researcher at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore who studies the issue. In India, microloans outstanding grew 72% in the year ended March 31, 2008, totaling $1.24 billion, according to Sa-Dhan, an industry association in New Delhi.

"We fear a bubble," says Jacques Grivel of the Luxembourg-based Finethic, a $100 million investment fund that focuses on Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia, though it has no exposure to India. "Too much money is chasing too few good candidates."

Even 'green shoots' wither on the vine

If you believe today's newspapers, the much-heralded 'green shoots' are dead amid "uncertain prospects for a global recovery" and "growing pessimism about the prospects for a global economic recovery".

This type of reporting is, quite frankly, nonsense. Stock markets have fallen 2%-3% because investors have been selling shares to profit from the recent market bounce. They haven't had many opportunities to make money in the last 12 months and so they are taking advantage now.

Nothing - repeat, nothing - about the global economic outlook has changed substantively in the last 24 hours.

As a former stock market reporter for a daily newspaper, I know only too well the pressure that financial journalists come under to conjure up sweeping explanations for significant market moves.

During the volatile months between the collapse of Northern Rock and the collapse of Lehman Brothers, I often ended up writing the"markets tumble because of fears about the global economy" story one day, only to be forced into writing the "markets soar on hopes that world can avoid recession" story the next day, when stock markers inevitably bounced back following the sharp dip.

It's a thankless task.