Meantime, people who fled the coastal areas are anxious to return, but state officials are restricting travel to the coast.

NPR: Hurricane Recovery Efforts in Mississippi

But private-equity firms are anxious to return money to their profit-starved investors and take some cash for themselves too, after a barren few years.

ECONOMIST: Are private-equity firms able to escape their past?

Costa Ricans are waiting to see when (or if) he will return from abroad to face a congressional committee anxious to question him.

ECONOMIST: Corruption in Costa Rica: Not so Swiss after all | The

That's especially good news for late-night talk-show hosts, who should find an anxious audience waiting up for them when they return to the airwaves in early January.

FORBES: Writers Gone, Viewers Stay