The children’s entertainment super-giant Walt Disney Corporation announced on Monday that it's acquiring Marvel Inc., the home of such superheroes as Spiderman, Iron Man and Captain America. The $4 billion deal would see Mickey Mouse on the same corporate team with the likes of the X-Men, The New Mutants and other yet-to-be-blockbuster movie action fare.  

The question now is: was this a bold and brilliant example of corporate synergy or an ungodly pop-cultural mutation? We ask Takeaway contributor Mary Elizabeth Williams, culture critic for Salon.com

Just a year ago, the government stepped in and took over struggling mortgage and loan security giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They were the first major companies deemed "too big to fail," although they would not be the last.  One year after the takeover, both Fannie and Freddie are reporting huge profits.  The times, to paraphrase Bob Dylan, might just be a-changin'.

Joining us to tell us where these gains are coming from and what we've learned in our year of nationalized mortgage lending is Louise Story, Wall Street and finance reporter for the New York Times.

California's budget is still in terrible shape, so the cash-strapped state is having a garage sale. Starting today at a warehouse in Sacramento, the state will be selling more than a thousand computers, jewelry, and 600 government vehicles, some signed by Governor Schwarzenegger. Eric Lamoureux, spokesman for the California Department of General Services, tells us what's for sale.

The FDIC, the body that insures the money we put into our bank accounts, is currently supporting 416 failed and "problem" banks. Is all that strain on our nation's banking backbone a cause for alarm? We speak to Louise Story, Wall Street and finance reporter for The New York Times, to ask her if we should start stuffing money under our mattresses.

This week the White House reported that the federal deficit is rising faster than expected. The projected 10-year deficit is now $9 trillion — that's $2 trillion more than previous estimates. Does increased spending mean a healthier economy, or does burgeoning debt spell trouble for the future? To decode this number and other indicators we speak to Lakshman Achuthan, managing director of the Economic Cycle Research Institute.

Home price indexes, GDPs and jobless claim numbers are all coming in this week. Sure, the numbers look good, but what does it all mean in practical terms? Can the worst of the economic downturn really be behind us? We speak with Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics at Moody’s Economy.com, and Andrew Walker, who covers economics for the BBC, to interpret these fuzzy economic indicators.

This morning, President Obama will nominate Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to a second term.  The President will do so during an appearance at Oak Bluffs School on Martha’s Vineyard, where the First Family is vacationing this week. Joining us to talk about Bernanke's performance during the current economic crisis is our friend Dan Gross, columnist at Newsweek and Slate and author of the book "Dumb Money," as well as Richard Bove, banking equities analyst and a Vice President at Rochdale Securities.

Having run out of money two weeks ahead of schedule, the Cash for Clunkers program officially ends at 8 p.m. tonight.  Now that it's winding down, how are car dealers and automakers going to get people to come in and buy cars without the $4500 incentive?

We speak to Bill Underriner, owner of Underriner Autos in Billings, Montana; and Mark LaNeve, vice president of sales for General Motors.