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Over the past two decades, institutions that make microloans to low-income borrowers in developing and transition economies have focused increasingly on making their lending operations financially sustainable by charging interest rates that are high enough to cover all their costs. They argue that doing so will best ensure the permanence and expansion of the services they provide. Sustainable (i.e., profitable) microfinance providers can continue to serve their clients without needing ongoing infusions of subsidies and can fund exponential growth of services for new clients by tapping commercial sources, including deposits from the public.

Reports statistics that show that the number of economics majors in the USA achieved a peak in 1989‐90 but had declined by 11 percent by 1993 and experienced further 8.8 percent drop from 1992‐93 to 1993‐94 while at the same time the number of overall Bachelor’s degrees granted in all fields climbed steadily. Examines the possible causes for this decline in numbers and explores two possible outcomes and their effects on the discipline of economics.

Woller, Dunford, and Woodworth (1999) and Morduch (2000) were among the first to discuss the existence of a “schism” in the study of microfinance. Although the exact dimensions of this divide are stated differently by various authors, the existence of alternative schools of thought is widely accepted (Brett, 2006; Bhatt & Tang, 2001; Mitlin, 2002; Robinson, 2001; Rhyne, 1998).

The “traditional” family, one in which the mother and father both reside in the same home and the mother does not work outside of the home, now accounts for less than seven percent of all families in the United States (13, p.56). More than sixty percent of women of childbearing age in the United States are in the work force and forty percent of these women have children under three years of age (1, p.4). Approximately eighty percent of mothers will be in the work force in the year 2000 (8, p.3). Two‐thirds of new workers entering the work force between now and the year 2000 will be women (13, p.57).

In the 1980s and beyond, key elements in the formula for bank retailing success will include people, place, plastic and machine strategies designed to effectively mix high‐touch and high‐tech operating modes in order to satisfy customer demand for time and place convenience. A scenario depicting the extensive delivery system of a fictional major multi‐state banking organisation that has evolved through a series of regional mergers and acquisitions (First Southeast Financial) attempts to speculate about the look of an overall delivery system in 1990, and how the operating mix elements will fit together.

Reports on the conference, "Ethics of Electronic Information in the 21st Century 20032, held in Tennessee, October 2003.

Julie Abrams, President, Microfinance Analytics, has been a consultant to the microfinance industry for 15 years. She has authored or co-authored 16 publications on microfinance topics including international financial institution funding, foreign investment, MFI debt default, foreign exchange risk, an e-course on financial risk management, capital structure, profitability, financial performance, and MFI appraisals. Julie has been on the review panel and jury for CGAP's Financial Transparency Awards. She currently serves as an advisor for Research and Analysis to the International Association of Microfinance Investors (IAMFI) and is a member of the Calvert Foundation's External International Investment Committee, including reviews of MicroPlace and all syndicated lending. She began working in microfinance in 1985 with Women's World Banking. Julie was a fellow at the Lauder Institute of Management and International Studies, where she earned an MBA from the Wharton School and an MA in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and holds a BA in Economics from Oberlin College.

“Welcome to the new world of banking, where the bank goes to the customer rather than waiting for the customer to come to the bank.”. Financial institutions are in the process of executing an unprecedented reconfiguration of the banking industry.

Within the past few years, a new phenomenon has taken place among the world's leading microfinance institutions (MFIs) – entry into new capital markets through initial public offerings (IPOs). “Going public” launches MFIs into a new frontier, not only presenting challenges but also providing new opportunities for the institutions and the clients they serve.

While asset/liability management (A/L M) has been applied widely by insurers for 15 years, it has had mixed results. This article describes how initial efforts were unsuccessful, due to the focus on accounting values rather than economic values. The author asserts that insurers must rectify this misstep before A/L M can become a useful tool for them. Several forces are combining to ensure that this takes place in the near future.