http://www.isnare.com/?s=author&a=Bruce+MacDonald Finances Bruce MacDonald Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=542500&ca=Finances Eduarda Rodriguez watched helplessly as her livelihood went up in an ominous tower of flames. She had been slowly building up her market stall business in this back corner of the Mercado Huembes in Managua, Nicaragua for over a decade. The vegetable stall, though humble, was the lifeline that suppor... Business Bruce MacDonald Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=497644&ca=Business What are ‘microloans’? As the name implies, microloans are ‘small’ loans, sometimes as low as $100. Microfinance institutions disburse these small loans (along with other types of financial services) to the entrepreneurial poor who use them to develop and expand informal businesses, which in turn al... Finances Bruce MacDonald Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=438269&ca=Finances Last year, while headlines read of a fallen Wall Street and a crumbling Main Street, people in developing economies worldwide were being slowly pushed deeper into poverty and starvation. “Food riots” ensued as the price of staples wheat and corn spiked at three times their average price between 2002... Finances Bruce MacDonald Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=438272&ca=Finances On the west coast of India, overlooking a deep natural harbor, sits the city of Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay. As far as world cities go, Mumbai is hugely significant in its size, economic output and cultural contributions. As the fourth largest city in the world, the metropolitan area of Mumbai... Finances Bruce MacDonald Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=435660&ca=Finances What is microfinance? Microfinance means providing very poor families with very small loans (microcredit) to help them engage in productive activities or grow their tiny businesses. Over time, microfinance has come to include a broader range of services (credit, savings, insurance, etc.) as it has b... Finances Bruce MacDonald Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=423346&ca=Finances “Inequality” is a loaded word, especially in a socioeconomic context. Depending on who you talk to, inequality can be used as justification for greater government intervention or be deemed an inevitable byproduct of the free market system. When the international development community decries the eco...