This article attempts to explain the so-called turn to the left of several Latin American political systems. There are several "lefts" involved based upon their ideological definitions and their different sociopolitical origins.
A relatively new set of financial services called “microfinance” provides what appears to be a sustainable way of supplying access to capital to the poor. This article provides a brief history of microfinance, discusses the ongoing integration of microfinance institutions into the global capital markets, and surveys the challenges that now confront these organizations in becoming sustainable enterprises with social as well as commercial objectives.