The success of microfinance has prompted commercial banks to view low-income client loans as smart business. Speakers at our roundtable discussion outlined potential challenges and possible solutions to ensuring the sustainability of Latin America’s microfinance boom.

As the U.S. population ages and birth rates decline, immigrant labor will be one of the few sources for future labor growth, writes AS/COA Director of Policy, Jason Marczak. Across the Atlantic, foreign-born labor is also an important economic resource but integration policies stifle newcomers’ ability to contribute economically.

Topics in this issue
   • Democrats and Bush administration reach compromise on trade
   • Enforcing labor standards
   • Revising intellectual property rights
   • Environment
   • Effects on Trade Promotion Authority

Topics in this issue
   • Senators debates immigration reform
   • Major legislative provisions
   • The Mexican perspective

Can Peru maintain its robust economic growth? Minister Carranza Ugarte discusses future economic scenarios along with the importance of investment in social development and passage of the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement.

In office for just over a month, Minister Araujo outlines Colombia’s foreign policy goals both in the Andean Region and globally. Held hostage by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) until December 2006, Minister Araujo provides an inside look at prospects for peace.