Today the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission conducts its first public meeting. The commission is a bipartisan commission tasked with finding the root cause of the nation's financial meltdown. Louise Story, finance reporter for The New York Times, explains why we need yet another commission and what this group is hoping to uncover that we don't already know.

While newspapers and magazines have lined their pages with details of Bernie Madoff's deceit, the literary world is still trying to cash in on the embezzlement drama. The sixth book on the life and times of the convicted Ponzi schemer hits bookstores today.

The book was penned by Sheryl Weinstein, former CEO of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, and one of Madoff’s investors. We speak to Motoko Rich, who covers the publishing industry for The New York Times, along with author and journalist Erin Arvedlund, whose book “Too Good to be True: The Rise and Fall of Bernie Madoff” just came out this month.

On Friday the Department of Labor announced fewer job losses for the month of July since the current economic crisis hit bottom last Fall. Even the credit markets seem to be thawing out and returning to more normal levels. Joining The Takeaway is Louise Story, finance reporter for The New York Times.

Large banks like Goldman Sachs posted record gains recently. Many smaller regional banks will release their earnings with much less fanfare this week. The Takeaway looks at the state of American banking with Mike Menzies, the president and CEO of Easton Bank and Trust in Easton, Maryland.

Roughly 50 percent of all college graduates leave school with what can be years' of student loan debt. But relief is in sight. On July 1, a new income-based repayment plan goes into effect. For a look at who is eligible for this financial lifeline, The Takeaway is joined by personal finance expert Beth Kobliner. She is the author of The New York Times best-seller "Get a Financial Life." Also joining the show are two people who are saddled with student loan debt. Austin Light is a journalist who shares over $100,000 of debt with his wife. He joins us from Charlotte, North Carolina. Colleen Hansford joins The Takeaway form Colorado Springs. As a single mother of three, she is struggling to scale down the $66,000 in debt that she’s incurred.

Go to the Income Based Repayment site IBRinfo to get more information about this repayment plan.

Today is the Part Two of The Takeaway’s series “The Color of Money.” We’re exploring how the financial crisis is affecting people of color in the United States, perhaps differently than it affects their white peers. Today we are taking a close look at how financial services are marketed by black Americans to black Americans. For example, “rush cards" — no-credit-check, pre-paid credit cards with $200 credit limits and $50 a year in fees. We’re joined by Boyce Watkins, professor of finance at Syracuse University and founder of YourBlackWorld, to discuss access to credit, the failings of financial institutions, and the changing American Dream.

Listen to Part One of The Takeaway's Color of Money series, Debtors' Prison: It lives in the 21st Century.

Here is the ad for Russell Simmons' "Rush Card":



And here is a conversation about that Rush Card from the Young Guns Now (some harsh language):

After it became clear that some UBS employees in the United States helped wealthy Americans evade taxes by setting up Swiss bank accounts, UBS agreed to reveal the details of a few hundred clients suspected of tax fraud and to pay a hefty sum to the U.S. for aiding tax evasion. But when the U.S. sought information on over 50,000 U.S. citizens holding Swiss bank accounts, the Swiss hit the fan. For the details on UBS' decision to rebuff this new U.S. government lawsuit, we turn to the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva.

Swiss banks have been revered, loved, and hated for their tightly-held secrets, but Swiss bank UBS has agreed to a legal settlement with the United States government after it was revealed that the bank was operating as a willing shelter for tax evaders. The bank is set to give U.S. tax regulators access to hundreds of bank accounts and will also pay close to $780 million in fees. For more on the story we turn to BBC business correspondent Mark Gregory.

Further details can be found in A Swiss Bank Is Set to Open Its Secret Files in today's New York Times.

Today is a big day for General Motors. They are preparing to announce how they plan to repay the $13.4 billion loan Congress doled out late last year. Workers at GM plants are anxiously awaiting to hear the detail of the plan, too, because their union is in the middle of negotiating a health care plan with the automaker. Nick Bunkley has been covering this developing story for our partner, the New York Times, and he joins us now.

For more, read Nick Bunkley's and Bill Vlasic's article, Union Talks Seen as Key as G.M. Makes Case for Funds in today's New York Times.

To understand the economic crisis you need to understand numbers. But it can be difficult to think critically about the statistics used by politicians and journalists, especially when you're panicked about your job and your 401K. To take a step back from the hysteria surrounding financial facts and figures, Katherine and Todd talk to Andrew Dilnot, co-author of the book The Numbers Game: The Commonsense Guide to Understanding Numbers in the News, in Politics, and in Life.

Neuroscientist Dr. Gregory Berns has likened America’s financial system to a drug addict. If the drug is money, and if the financial sector is in withdrawal, what would the stimulus package mean for Wall Street? We turn to Dr. Berns for his prognosis. Dr. Berns is the Director of the Center for Neuropolicy at Emory University and the author of Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently.

As interest rates for mortgage loans continue to drop, homeowners are looking to refinance and lock in lower long term rates. But most applicants are getting turned down. Takeaway contributor Alvin Hall joins host Adaora Udoji to talk about whether it's a good time to try and refinance and how to go about the process in a tough lending market.

The Obama administration is considering the creation of a “bad bank” to buy up billions in so-called toxic assets. We’re taking an in-depth look at this seemingly counter intuitive proposal — a proposal that could cost in excess of $2 trillion. Can bad banks be a good thing? The Takeaway is joined by Jane Sasseen, Washington Bureau Chief for BusinessWeek, and Freakonomics author Stephen Dubner.

Congress is currently debating the possibility of bankruptcy reform, a measure that may come too late to save companies such as GM, but what about the little guy who is being crushed by personal debt? Does the legal insulation meant to protect the American worker still function in this economic climate? Does filing for bankruptcy in our current economy offer relief? Alvin Hall joins Adaora and Todd with some advice that might make you pause before considering declaring bankruptcy.

After the dissolution of Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and numerous other investment banks, the Bernie Madoff scandal, and the global economic fallout of the sub-prime mortgages, business schools are finding themselves in a pickle. What do you teach about business when the future of business is up for debate? In response, business schools are adopting a new curriculum to deal with a new kind of student in the post sub-prime world. Chris McKenna, the MBA program director at the Said Business School at Oxford University, joins The Takeaway.

Two major economic indicators are released today: the numbers for new and existing home sales for November. Together, the numbers are expected to indicate the economy is worsening. Chip Case, the co-producer of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, joins The Takeaway to talk about how the housing market is the backbone of the American economy and if there is a prospect for good news in real estate.

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.

Zip. Zilch. Nada. Goose-Egg. The result of a series of meetings the Fed is holding this week may result in Chairman Ben Bernanke lowering the interest rate to 0%. But what is a Fed Chairman to do when there are longer rates to cut? How do you keep the economy rolling and have we ever seen this before? Joining The Takeaway to discuss this brave new world is Vincent Reinhart, the former director of monetary affairs for the Federal Reserve and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Where was the Securities and Exchange Commission—the federal agency responsible for regulating Wall Street—when Bernard Madoff was allegedly pulling off a massive fraud that could leave investors with billions of dollars in losses? Experts say there were plenty of red flags that should have tipped off regulators that something was seriously amiss. Stephen Labaton, who covers regulatory issues for the New York Times, joins The Takeaway with the story.

Want more from Stephen Labaton? Read his article, "S.E.C. Image Suffers in a String of Setbacks," at the New York Times.

Trader Bernard Madoff has been accused of cheating investors of $50 billion.