President Obama's plan to stave off foreclosures is reverberating in markets around the world, where the subprime mortgage crisis has left global financial systems reeling. For the global reaction we talk with the Financial Times' Michael Hunter in London and the BBC's Asia Business correspondent Juliana Liu in Singapore.

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.

You’ve probably heard our recession compared to the financial crisis of the 1930s. But in today’s out take, we’re talking to Scott Nelson, a professor of History at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, who is researching the history of financial panics. He says that our current crisis has more in common with the so-called “Long Depression” that began in 1873, than the “Great Depression” of the 1930s. Since we've never heard of the “Long Depression” we asked Mr. Nelson to explain.

Professor Nelson is the author of the book Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend.

We tried to find something about the Long Depression, but couldn't, so here is Tom Waits singing over Dorothea Lange's and Walker Evans' iconic photos of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. It's no Spaghetti Cat, but it will do.

According to a sober assessment of the mountain of losses facing some of the nation's largest banks, the banks could be called insolvent. Calling for more direct government involvement in the banking sector, a group of economists and finance experts claim that without a cure for the bad assets, the credit crisis will linger and banks will not be able to resume the lending that is key to the economy. For what this means for the economy and the nation, we turn to Steve Lohr, a reporter for the New York Times.

For more, read Steve Lohr's article, Ailing Banks May Require More Aid to Keep Solvent in today's New York Times.

Forget TARP and get used to F.S.P. That's the Financial Stability Plan that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled yesterday and the markets had a clear response: They hated it. To find out what may be bothering the markets, we turn to Peter Morici, an economist and professor at the University of Maryland. But we are also curious how Main Street was reacting to the revamped bailout and we asked John Fetterman, the mayor of Braddock, PA to join us for his point of view.

ShovelWatch is a joint project of the non-profit investigative outfit ProPublica, the morning news program The Takeaway and WNYC, New York's flagship public radio station. With investigative reporting, interactive features and help from you, we're tracking the stimulus bill dollars from Congress to your community.

Follow the dollars online and tell us how the stimulus plan is playing out in your community. We're sharing your stories online and on air, and we'll continue the investigation with your help.

Timothy Geithner talks about the Financial Stability Plan at his recent press conference.

Should banks be required to explain how they spend taxpayer dollars? That was the 700 billion dollar question the Bush administration struggled with last fall while constructing the TARP. Today as we anticipate the reworked version of the TARP, it seems the Obama administration has a whole new set of questions, like how to restore public faith in the bailout. David Barstow, a New York Times reporter covering the bank bailout, joins us this morning.

For more on this, read David Barstow's article, Calls for Clarity in New Bailout for U.S. Banks, in today's New York Times.

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.