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.

Most Ponzi schemes are short lived. Financial watchdogs, investors or the FBI normally sniff out the crook and the scheme collapses. But that's not the case with Wall Street legend Bernard Madoff, who was arrested late last week and accused of putting on one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in the history of Wall Street. Diana Henriques of The New York Times wrote Sunday's piece, "The 17th Floor, Where Wealth Went to Vanish"

Does falling family debt mean a stagnant economy?

The Bank of England cuts its rate by one percent and the European Central Bank cut rates by a record 75 basis ponts, its biggest move ever. The Bank of England's interest rates have never gone below this level since the central bank was created in 1694.