It's Monday, so we're discussing news ahead for the week. Next Sunday will be ten years since the 9/11 attacks. This will be a week of reflection — not just for Americans but for everyone around the world. As we remember 9/11, many Americans are still without jobs and struggling to make ends meet. Charlie Herman, business and economics editor for WNYC and The Takeaway, says not to expect anything game-changing from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech this Thursday in Minnesota on the economic outlook. His speech will be followed by President Barack Obama's jobs speech. And across the Atlantic, Dominique Strauss-Kahn returned to France over the weekend, and the hunt for Col. Muammar Gadhafi continues in Libya.

In the wake of Standard and Poor's decision to downgrade the U.S. credit rating, and an economy still struggling to keep its head above water, the Federal Reserve decided yesterday to keep the nation's interest rate close to zero through 2013. The rate has been static for the past two years. The response on Wall Street seemed mixed. At first stocks took a bit of a dive, but they recovered.  The Dow closed up 429 points yesterday after a late rally.

One day before the mid-term election and predictions are in. Todd Zwillich, The Takeaway's Washington correspondent, looks ahead to election day and forecasts the after-effects of its results.

Voters head to the polls tomorrow, but non-political happenings continue apace: the Fed will meet to discuss what to do about interest rates and the economy. Charlie Herman, economics editor for The Takeaway and WNYC Radio, doesn't see the interest rate increasing, but sees the Fed pumping more money into the economy, to try and jumpstart it.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had troubling words when he testified before the House Budget Committee on Wednesday. In describing the state of the economy, Bernanke said that the nation’s budget “appears to be on an unsustainable path.”  The New York Times’ Wall Street and finance reporter Louise Story, explains that the chairman’s critique is a serious matter, and discusses the possible further economic pitfalls that lie ahead.

• FINANCIAL TAKEOUT:  Expressing a deep, if cautious, confidence in our current economic recovery, The Federal Reserve decided to maintain the national interest rate yesterday. Louise Story, Wall Street and finance reporter for our The New York Times tells us whether or not that confidence is justified.
• SPORTS TAKEOUT: Sports contributor, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, weighs in on Tiger Woods' announcement that he will play in the Master's next month.

• MONEY TAKEOUT: New York Times finance reporter Louise Story reports on a plan by fed chief Ben Bernanke to raise interest rates.
• TECH TAKEOUT: Yesterday, Google unveiled Buzz, a new social networking service that lets Gmail users share short status updates in much the same way they might on Twitter or Facebook. Is it the next big thing? Will it take Twitter down? Or is Google just inserting itself into another arena where it's not wanted? Fast Company tech blogger and Wired writer Cliff Kuang has used Buzz and shares his opinions.

• CONGRESS TAKEOUT:  Lawmakers in Washington went to bed yesterday knowing the dynamics of power in the capitol had changed. Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich  looks at what's on today's agenda in the White House and Congress.
• MONEY TAKEOUT: New York Times finance reporter Louise Story talks about the Fed's audit of how it handled AIG - and a Senate re-confirmation hearing coming soon for Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.
• RESPONSES TAKEOUT: We listen to some of our listeners' reactions to a story we aired yesterday about the media coverage of the Haiti earthquake - what worked and what didn't.

• Fed Takeout: Louise Story, financial reporter for our partner, The New York Times, talks about Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech in Atlanta yesterday, where he said faulty regulation, not the Fed's interest rates policy, is to blame for the housing bubble.
• Washington Takeout:  Our Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, explains how, in the wake of an attempted airline bombing on Christmas day, the routine appointment of a Director to the TSA will now be conducted under intense scrutiny.
• Sports Takeout: Kim Constantinesco is a blogger for predominantlyorange.com, a Denver Broncos fan site, and she joins us to discuss the Broncos' last game of the season and their playoff fate.

• Washington Takeout: Todd Zwillich on Senator Joe Lieberman's move to get the Medicare expansion out of the healthcare bill.
• Christmas Takeout: Prof. Gary Chastagner, AKA "Mr. Christmas Tree," may have found a way to keep Christmas trees from shedding.
• Listener Takeout: Wall Street Journal reporter Kelly Evans on what to expect for the dollar from today's scheduled Fed meeting.

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) plans to push for a "super-regulator" that would merge the four agencies currently regulating the banking industry. Dodd wants a smaller role for the Federal Reserve; this plan conflicts with President Obama's plans for regulation. Louise Story, reporter for The New York Times, tells us why.

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.

The Fed meets today to consider raising interest rates. Louise Story, finance reporter for The New York Times, helps us forecast the possible results if and when the Fed does change rates.

Last night, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke was at a town hall meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, where he faced tough questions from the public about his monetary policy and his approach to regulation. Bernanke said he expects the unemployment rate to remain high in the coming months, even as the economy recovers. The Takeaway talks to Edmund Andrews, economics reporter for The New York Times who's reporting from Kansas City.

On Capitol Hill, Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch is coming under serious scrutiny. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is going before the committee today as lawmakers say the Fed hid some unsavory parts of the deal from other agencies in order to make the merger go through. Bank of America received billions in federal bailout funds as it struggled to absorb Merrill’s financial liabilities. For more of the story, The Takeaway talks to Peter Morici, professor of international business at the University of Maryland.

The financial industry is getting a makeover. Today President Obama will lay out some of the most significant changes to the U.S. financial system since the Great Depression. For a look at some of the reforms we might see, The Takeaway talks to Peter Morici. He's an economist and professor at the University of Maryland's School of Business.

The Federal Reserve yesterday released the long-awaited results of the “stress tests”. The tests found that ten of the nation's 19 largest banks need a total of about $75 billion in new capital to withstand losses if the recession worsened. The banks in trouble will have until June 8 to come up with a plan and have it approved. While the verdict was far more upbeat than many in the industry had feared when the tests were first announced in February, will the results help build the confidence they're meant to? Edmund Andrews, New York Times economics reporter, joins The Takeaway to discuss.

For more, read Edmund L. Andrews' article, Ailing Banks Need $75 Billion, U.S. Says, in today's New York Times.

Stress-test results: click here to see which banks still need more cash.

The Federal Reserve yesterday released the long-awaited results of the “stress tests”. The report gave nine of the nation's largest banks a clean bill of health, and told ten others to raise $75 billion in new capital. The banks in trouble, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup, will have until June 8 to come up with a plan to raise the money and have it approved. Joining The Takeaway is Simon Johnson, Professor at MIT, former chief economist at the IMF, and co-founder of the economics blog Baseline Scenario. He's been a critic of Treasury Secretary Timonthy Geithner's approach to solving the nation's financial woes, he joins us to discuss the results, the after-hours upsurge in trading, and what this means for the economy.

Stress-test results: click here to see which banks still need more cash.

The Fed announced its new plan to help stimulate the economy yesterday calling for roughly $1 trillion to be spent on the mortgage market and treasury securities. Maya MacGuineas is the Director of the New America Foundation’s Fiscal Policy Program and the President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, and she joins us to talk about the Fed's new plan.



Curious exactly how money is made? Watch this clip from How It's Made explaining the process.