[dgallo51]

I was in Jamaica shortly after 9-11 and was appalled at the economic impact the fall-off in tourism had wreaked. I remember reading in one of their papers that there was a big scandal over a huge black hole in their "development' programs, hundreds of millions in foreign aid poured into one "gravey-train" internet business which went the way of the dot-bomb economy. Human dignity requires a fundamental change in how G7 "guilt money" is employed to aleviate degrading living conditions. MicroCredit seems so totally insignificant to today's bureaucrats and politicians, but gets to the essence of the problem: self reliance over perpetual dependency. I hope the push towards MicroCredit gains more attention.

[RS]

Too bad the Social Security "trust" fund was not invested in microcredit instead... a 9% return would have kept it solvent !

[what's up]

Excellent. Great way to increase favor in the poor nations' eyes while truly improving their economies at the same time.

[stylin19a]

U.S. aid to $40 billion over three years. This would be an increase of $10 billion over what would be expected under current practices. While still stingy, relative to what many other developed countries contribute as a percentage of their national wealth...

Unbelievable !...Pull out..pull out now !