In 2008, the government offered an $85 billion bailout to American International Group Inc., one of the world's largest insurance companies, in order to prevent its collapse. When AIG accepted the bailout, it waived its right to sue banks over most of the mortgage securities that it had acquired. But, it did not give up its right to pursue legal action regarding $40 billion of mortgage bonds it purchased directly from banks. In an exclusive story for The New York Times, finance reporter Louise Story explains how AIG is now going after hedge funds and banks to try to recover billions in losses related to mortgage securities that caused the financial collapse in 2008. 

During the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, 800 bank officials ended up in jail over misconduct that led to the crisis. So why hasn’t a single bank executive been charged with any crime in the 2008 financial crisis? Louise Story, Wall Street and Finance Reporter for The New York Times lays out the lapses in regulation that led up to the crisis and also may now be responsible for the lack of evidence to try bank executives. Why did the FBI, the Justice Department and the SEC all chose to scale back their investigations into questionable banking practices?

Who or what was responsible for the worst economic crisis since the 1920s? And could it have been prevented? That is what the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission set to find out when they interviewed over 700 people. Today they release their 576 page report. Michael Hudson, reporter for the Center for Public Integrity and the author of "The Monster: How a Gang of Predatory Lenders and Wall Street Bankers Fleeced America and Spawned a Global Crisis" says Wall Street greed and lack of government regulation were the biggest causes for the crisis.

Bank of America announced a $2.8 billion settlement with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae on Monday. The American-owned firms demanded that Bank of America buy back mortgages whose quality was misrepresented by Countrywide, which is owned by Bank of America. Louise Story, Wall Street and finance reporter for The New York Times analyzes the implications of the settlement.

The European Union might see some familiar trends within its region as they tackle the debt crisis that is forcing painful cuts and austerity measures. Why? Because along with the U.S., the E.U. helped bail Latin Ammerica out of a similar crisis in the 1980s. 

Most of the companies who received money from the TARP bailout funds have been public knowledge ... but yesterday, the Fed revealed that a slate of prominent American companies used billions of dollars in bailout loans during the height of the financial crisis, including such corporate pillars as GE, Verizon and McDonalds, to name a few.  We speak with New York Times Wall Street and finance reporter Louise Story for the program's details. 

Until several years ago an economic success story, Ireland has been told that it should accept financial help, from Britain and the rest of the European Union, and perhaps from the International Monetary Fund as well. With a financial bailout would come some loss of control, and politicians in the current Irish government say they will resist raising their famously-low corporate tax rates, which many credit with attracting foreign companies to Ireland. The country's long been fiercely independent — it's arguably part of Ireland's national identity. Many Irish people are heartsick over the country's financial woes and the loss of sovereignty a bailout would entail.

In the last two years, the world has been shaken by the financial crisis that has affected all corners of the globe. Hugh Pym, correspondent for the BBC, discusses the findings of a study that looked at global recovery in 26 countries. The study focused particularly on how we differ when it comes to budget deficits. The poll asked how citizens felt about their government taking steps "in current economic conditions" to reduce the government's deficit and debt.

Former Lehman Brothers chief executive Richard Fuld testified before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission on Wednesday. He described his frustration that his firm did not get the help that other firms later got from federal regulators. Louise Story, Wall Street and finance reporter for The New York Times, explains what we're learning from the FCIC, which is tasked with finding out what caused the financial and economic crisis in 2008.

There's long been a growing gap between the rich and the poor in the United States, but some believe that disparity could actually cause more harm than previously thought. A group of economists, sociologists, and legal scholars are saying there may be a correlation between income inequality and financial crises. One possible link between the two, according to David A. Moss, an economic and policy historian at the Harvard Business School could be the fact that Wall Street titans wield power that, in turn, allows them to promote policies which benefit them, but not necessarily the financial system as a whole.

By firing all 96 of its full-time employees, the cash-strapped city of Maywood, California is saving money by utilizing a strategy well known to American companies: outsourcing. They town may have had to file for bankruptcy if it hadn't taken this outsourcing approach.

Financial regulatory reform will likely be signed into law this summer, months before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission wraps up its investigation on the causes of the crisis.

Greek's debt crisis has the European Union worrying about a possible domino effect. Spain and Portugal have already seen their credit ratings downgraded, and Ireland and Italy may be next. Some fear that Greece's crisis may deal such a sharp blow to confidence in the global credit market that we see a repeat of the global financial crisis.

After a recent "Dateline: NBC" documentary angered Detroit residents with what they called an overly negative portrayal of the city, we thought to talk with residents well-versed in creating positive imagery: Detroit's creative class.

Goldman Sachs's top executives, including CEO Lloyd Blankfein and Vice President Fabrice Tourre, visited Capitol Hill yesterday for a good old-fashioned grilling during a U.S. Senate committee hearing. New York Times financial reporter Louise Story was there and followed the hearings all day long. She found more than a few contradictions in the executives' testimony, as the senators on the panel grew more and more testy.

On Friday the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a civil suit against Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs, after uncovering what the SEC calls significant evidence of fraud during the run-up to the current financial crisis.

• ENVIRONMENT TAKEOUT: It's flood season in North Dakota. Prairie Public Broadcasting reporter Todd McDonald gives us the latest on the flood preparations in Fargo and tells us why some people are still not moving away from the town's most exposed area.
• MONEY TAKEOUT: Former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan will be at the Brookings Institution today to present his most detailed report on the roots of the financial meltdown, 48-page paper titled, "The Crisis." New York Times reporter Louise Story discusses Greenspan's limited admission of failure and his new argument on what really caused the housing bubble.

The CEOs of the country's major banks came under a grilling yesterday, as the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission kicked off hearings on the causes of last year's economic meltdown. We get reaction from Elizabeth Warren, who heads the group charged with overseeing the U.S. banking bailout, the Congressional Oversight Panel. 

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission kicked off hearings yesterday. Banks CEOs were the first ones to testify, and the debate heated up very quickly.

What goes down, must come up, and then go back down again...at least that's been the story of our economy over the past ten years. As we continue our week-long look back at the decade that was, Zanny Minton Beddoes of the Economist puts the topic of money into perspective: from the major milestones of the 2000s to the aftershocks we'll be dealing with from years to come.