Microfinance is widely lauded as a sustainable long-term solution to worldwide poverty. It gives investors incentives to provide financial services to…

Student loan debt is almost impossible to escape, as many borrowers know all too well. In response to the current problem of borrowers buried under heavy payments and high interest rates, Congressman Tom Petri (R-Wisconsin) recently introduced the Earnings Contingent Education Loans (ExCEL) Act of 2012.

Petri contends that his bill protects borrowers against payments they cannot afford while also ensuring that taxpayers don’t have to subsidize defaulted loans or the cost of loan collection.

Retail sales in the United States grew by an unimpressive 0.7% this holiday season, between Oct. 28 and Christmas Day, according to Bloomberg News. While holiday sales did show some growth, it was less than half the growth seen last holiday season, when sales grew by 2%, and much lower than the growth predicted by the National Retail Federation. It represents the worst growth since the 2008 recession, a year when there was a decline of 5.5%.