The AIG bonus scandal stirred intense anger from the public, the media and the president. Swiss bank Credit Suisse has adopted a creative solution to the bonus paying problem — pay part of employees bonuses in "toxic assets," those repackaged bad loans that are at the center of our economic downturn. Jesse Eisinger, a financial writer who has worked at the Wall Street Journal and Condé Nast Portfolio, explains.

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As the joblessness rate goes up it’s becoming almost commonplace for American workers to consider a plan of action in case they get laid off. But is there a way to be proactive and stave off a layoff? Cali Yost, blogger for Fast Company magazine joins The Takeaway to talk about ways to save your job such as talking to your employer about saving the company money. Yost writes and consults on work and life issues.

More than half a million Americans lost their jobs last month alone leaving a lot of those unemployed to wonder where they'll end up next. The Takeaway talks to two people about how they've bounced back after being laid off. Gail Ambrosius is a former cartographer for the state of Wisconsin who owns her own chocolatier shop in Madison. And Mike Gill is a former creative director turned Starbucks worker and book author.

Mike Gill discusses his transition from advertising executive to barista.

The history of the United States is filled with stories of immigrants, many illegal, who have come to the U.S. in search of work. So when the U.S. economy enters a recession and unemployment rises, do these same workers head home? According to Demetrios Papademetriou, President of the Migration Policy Institute, the answer is no. He has recently published a report that says illegal immigrants are likely to stay put in the current economic crisis. He joins us now to explain his findings.

The boss's salary has always been fodder for gossip around the water cooler. And knowing what you’re worth and how much others are paid can be key to negotiating your own pay. In the past it’s been considered gauche to bring up the subject in the office, but is the conversation about how much money your peers and bosses make becoming less taboo? Kristina Cowan, senior writer for Payscale.com helps The Takeaway figure out whether we're headed for a new era in salary transparency.

Rod Blagojevich was impeached yesterday. So, when you’re a very recently out of work, 52-year old ex-governor with nice hair, but not much political capital, how do you begin your job search? Hank Sheinkopf, President of Sheinkopf Communications, is a political and governmental consulting firm in New York and he may be able to help answer that questions.

When considering places to look for work cities like Rapid City, South Dakota and Idaho Falls, Idaho might not jump to mind immediately, but maybe they should. A new report out this week claims that these cities are looking pretty good job-wise, despite the economy, and are not projecting the job losses that New York City and Chicago expect. For a closer look at these numbers, we are joined by Demetra Nightingale, a professor of public policy at Johns Hopkins University.

The profits on Wall Street are long gone. This week, Goldman Sachs, a longtime top performer, reported a quarterly loss of more than $2 BILLION, which is its first quarterly loss since going public nine years ago. While you would expect there would be no bonuses to executives at Goldman and other banks, that is not the case. Executives at banks that ran into the ground took home hundreds of millions. Now there are questions about what role those lavish bonuses played in the banks', and the economy's, collapse. Louise Story is covering this story for our partner the New York Times.

For more on this story, read Louise Story's article in the New York Times, On Wall Street, Bonuses, Not Profits, Were Real .

"It is under nine dollars for the first time in about thirteen years. It was at fifty-some dollars about fifteen months ago."
--David Enrich on Citigroup's stock price

What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but one thing that isn't staying in Sin City is tourists. The economic downturn is keeping visitors — and their dollars — away from Nevada casinos. And from taxi drivers to waiters it seems that all of Las Vegas is feeling the pinch.

"Both in China and here the fall off in tourism is so drastic they weren't making the revenue to pay back those bonds. They've halted their building program in China and fired 11,000 construction workers."
--Ian Mylchreest speaking about the problems of the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas and abroad

View the Obama administration job questionnaire »

"It's like 'Give us the rope to hang you.'" -- Jackie Calmes, talking about a particularly probing question on the application for a job in the incoming Obama administration

The brilliant young men and women who were plucked from college by booming banks are now looking for other options. This is a good thing, and history proves it, says Stephen Dubner, co-author of the "Freakonomics" book and blog. Americans can look forward to talented, hard-working people spreading out through the economy, in ways that may buoy our GDP.

Three years after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the gulf coast; thousands of folks remain in trailers or are still homeless. The barriers to recovery are complex but the struggles exist for the poorest of folks, particularly in the area of housing and jobs. Sharon Hanshaw, a lifelong resident of Biloxi, Mississippi was and remains one of those thousands of Americans still struggling with recovery.