Thanks for your comment, Christine. I agree with you. Micro loans would indeed be a great addition to a welfare system in the U.S., or even an alternative to such a system in countries like mine, where the Government cannot afford direct disbursements to poor citizens but can choose to encourage microfinance activity through initiatives like one in Medellin, Colombia that I recently wrote about in NB. Back to the U.S., you might be interested in checking out http://www.accionnewyork.org/. I recently visited their headquarters in Manhattan and was very impressed by the work they are doing!