In this corner, we have Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke lowering interest to historic lows and in this corner we have the faltering OPEC drastically cutting oil production. Meanwhile, the consumer price index hit a record decline. Not sure how this will pan out? We've got Javier Blas of the Financial Times and Kelly Evans of the Wall Street Journal to coach John and Adaora into the next round of financial right hooks.

Last week legendary trader Bernie Madoff was arrested and charged with securities fraud. Today the reverberations of Madoff's historic scheming are being felt far beyond Wall Street. The nonprofits have been hit hard. For a look at what this means for philanthropies and those who benefit from their good works, The Takeaway checks in with Robert Crane, president and CEO of the JEHT Foundation. The foundation, whose funds were managed by Madoff, will close its doors in January.

The Iraqi journalist who threw a pair of shoes at President Bush over the weekend in Baghdad is expected to appear before a judge tomorrow. It's the first step in a legal process that could end in a criminal trial. But facing jailtime does not have to mean a quiet drifting into anonymity. Joining The Takeaway is Mark Borowski, a British publicist and the author of "The Fame Formula," a book about people who have soared from nothingness to fame.

Illinois state legislators began impeachment hearings against embattled Governor Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday, but the proceedings were stopped after just one hour. It seems that Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald would like to know who the lawmakers are planning to ask to testify, to make sure that their hearings will not interfere with his case. Amanda Vinicky, Statehouse Reporter for Illinois Public Radio, joins The Takeaway with the latest.

In just over a month President-elect Barack Obama will take over the White House and right now an unprecedented transition is taking place. While there have been transitions before, this is the first in the post-9/11 federal government and the first changing of the guard at the Department of Homeland Security. Peter Baker from the New York Times has been covering the issue.

For more of Peter Baker's coverage, read his article "Obama Team Has Forged Another Link With Clintons," in today's edition of the New York Times.

Until Bernard Madoff made off with billions in investor savings, the biggest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history was the Bayou Group scam. Investor Samuel Israel III swindled investors out of 400 million dollars and was sentenced to 20 years in prison in April. An interesting precedent was set when that case went to court. Investors who had cashed out of Bayou early were forced to return their money. Will the same thing happen again? The Takeaway talks to Phil Bentley, a bankruptcy litigator with Kramer Levin in New York City. He represented seventy investors who pulled out of the Bayou group early.

Americans are driving less and less and Congress appears to be making plans to keep pace with the times and start expanding their funding of public transportation. The Transportation Department is asking for proposals to develop high-speed rail service along 10 corridors around the U.S. The Takeaway talks to Representative John Mica (R-FL), the Republican Leader of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Yesterday the U.S. Federal Reserve slashed its key interest rate to historic lows in an effort to pull the world's largest economy out of recession. Today the rest of the world's markets react. Justin Urquhart Stewart, a director with Seven Investment Management, joins The Takeaway to discuss.

Italian police say they have arrested nearly 90 people in anti-Mafia raids in an effort to prevent the formation of a new mafia board of directors and the possible eruption of a mob war. The arrests, which involved 1,200 police officers, follow a nine-month-long investigation. BBC Correspondent Duncan Kennedy joins us from Rome with an update.

Wall Street is heading for a lower open today after the Dow Jones industrial average 4 percent surge yesterday. The Dow futures are down 109 points as investors' enthusiasm over the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut gives way to concerns about the nation's overall weak economy. Gretchen Morgenson, assistant business and financial editor and a columnist at the New York Times, joins The Takeaway to discuss.