In Cannes, leaders from the world's 20 largest economic nations are meeting to discuss the most pressing fiscal matters across the globe. On top of that list is Greece and the high-stakes political gamesmanship of the country's Prime Minister George Papandreou. Papandreou called off a plan to hold a referendum on his country's loan deal with the European Union Thursday after he gained new support for the deal from the opposition. Greece is in a tense political stalemate as its fate with the euro zone hangs in the balance. Papandreou is trying avoid a economic catastrophe as he faces calls for his resignation and a no-confidence vote on Friday. Papandreou's political brinkmanship has renewed questions about the instability of the euro zone and the destabilizing roles of deeply indebted countries.

The G20 summit is under way in Cannes. While the European sovereign debt crisis is at the top of the agenda, one of the more noteworthy topics being discussed is a so-called "Robin Hood Tax," a financial transaction tax on stocks, bonds and derivatives trades. Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates is at the summit to address world leaders in support of the tax, which he says could be utilized to help developed nations meet their global aid obligations to the world's poorest countries.  

One of the consequences of the 2007 global financial crisis has been an acceleration in the shift away from the traditional 19th and 20th century industrial powers toward a new emerging center of economic power in the world. The debt heavy and slow growth economies of Europe and the U.S. are now dependant on investments and exports from the emerging economies of the so-called BRIC nations — Brazil, Russia, India and China. That shift is reflected in the influence China and India are having at this week's G20 Summit in Cannes, France. The U.S. is no longer the grand mediator in global affairs, and the era of the single superpower ushered in at the end of the Cold War in 1989 now appears to be over.

Greece's ongoing debt crisis and governmental instability has become the focal point of this week's G-20 summit in Cannes, France. A day before a scheduled no-confidence vote in Greek Parliament that could lead to the government's collapse, two ministers have publicly split with Prime Minister George Papandreo over his plan to hold a referendum on a European bailout plan. Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos and three other ministers are now opposing the referendum, saying Greece's membership in the euro cannot be jeopardized.

With protesters in Egypt successfully overthrowing President Hosni Mubarak, following successful protests in Tunisia, we take a look at Yemen. That country has seen protests all weekend — not from the opposition but from the youth of the country, who have organized primarily via text messaging. Noel King, managing producer for The Takeaway, looks at why the U.S. should be keeping a close eye on what's happening in Yemen, as well as in Iran. 

The G20 Summit started earlier today in Seoul, South Korea, and high among the story lines we're watching is the economic skirmishing between China and the U.S. The U.S. has long been critical of how China has dealt with its currency, accusing China's central banks with keeping the RMB artificially low. China and other countries, meanwhile, are not happy with some of the White House's fiscal policies, most recently the Fed's plan to pump $600 billion back into the sluggish U.S. economy.

The world leaders of the G20 are meeting later this week, and there are a lot of ideas afloat on how to reorganize world currency (gold standard, anyone?). Simon Johnson, former chief economist for the International Monetary Fund, helps us examine the notion that the U.S. dollar may not remain at the top of the heap forever.

After the beating Democrats took in last week's mid-term elections, all eyes, including those of our managing producer, Noel King, will be looking at what the GOP's initial moves will be this week. She'll also look at President Obama's continued trip through Asia, along with Charlie Herman, business and economics editor for The Takeaway and WNYC Radio.

Later this week, world leaders will gather at the G20 summit in Seoul, South Korea. The meeting comes just days after the Federal Reserve's decision to buy $600 billion worth of Treasury bonds through a process known as "quantitative easing." In response to the announcement, American stock markets reacted positively. World leaders abroad did not.

It still has to pass the House and Senate and be signed into law by President Barack Obama, but sweeping legislation on financial regulation is looking like it will be law soon, as both houses have reached a compromise on the language of the bill. As the President heads to Toronto this week for the G8 and G20 Summits, it will be news he can bring with him to participating countries as an example of the U.S. commitment to financial reform. How will the legislation and the President be received?

Nuclear disarmament is high on the international agenda this week with discussions at the United Nations and the G-20 summit. Adding to the sense of urgency are new reports that Iran has a second uranium enrichment plant, despite having previously admitted only to one. The U.S. and Iran are set to meet in a series of high-level talks next week. In Pittsburgh this morning, President Obama spoke about the need for Iran to halt their nuclear ambitions. GlobalPost's Charlie Sennott explains the international repercussions of this new revelation while Cindy Skrzycki, also from GlobalPost, joins us from Pittsburgh with the reactions from the G-20 meeting.

If you missed it, here are President Obama's comments on Iran's secret enrichment site:

There's a small revolution in banking, and this time it's good for consumers. Led by Bank of America and Citigroup, an increasing number of banks are reducing or altogether eliminating the dreaded overdraft fee. (Can we get a heck yeah!?) What did consumers do to deserve such kindness? New York Times finance reporter Louise Story explains it all.

Today, global leaders descend on a small American town known as Pittsburgh, as the G-20 world summit gets underway. Local Pittsburgh residents are happy to have the attention (even if downtown security is a nightmare), but they are eager to note that even when world leaders aren't flocking to the city, there's a lot to do. We hunted down three Steel City locals for their hometown perspective: Justin Strong, Sabina Deitrick and Seán Sebastian.

The G20 summit kicks off in Pittsburgh today. Leaders from the world's biggest economies are gathering in the Steel City to develop plans for repairing the wounded global economy, reforming bank-bonus structures and continuing the climate change conversation. Out on the streets of Pittsburgh, residents are battening the hatches while hoping their city avoids the wrath Seattle faced in 1999. (Seattle saw riots and chaos on the streets during the World Trade Organization meetings in 1999.) Joining us for a view from the ground in Pittsburgh is Cindy Skrzycki, a correspondent for GlobalPost. And for an international perspective, we speak with GlobalPost correspondent Michael Goldfarb in London.

Read the Global Post's full G-20 coverage

New York Times finance reporter Louise Story joins us with a look at how the world's biggest economies will tackle banking regulation at the G20 summit in Pittspurgh. Top of the agenda? Capital requirements, an issue the international community has never been able to agree on.

Listener Matt Stein send this photo that his mother, Heather, took of a boarded up Starbucks in Pittsburgh, PA. In advance of tomorrow's G20 summit there, we're inviting your photos from the host city. They can be images of businesses bracing for the event, protestors objecting, or just bemused locals. Send them to mytake@thetakeaway.org.

Scenes of Pittsburgh in "Flashdance."

You could say it's like the 1980s movie "Flashdance": It's set in Pittsburgh and the main character (the city) has shed its blue-collar threads for something more glamorous. This week "The Steel City" plays host to world leaders as the site of the G-20 economic summit. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Tony Norman has lived through the city’s ups and downs and responds as the world comes to his town.

We started the week leading up to the G-20 by speaking with Dan Price, a former international economics assistant to President Bush who was responsible for setting up last year's meeting of the Group of 20 and is in London for this year's. We return to him now for his take on the summit, whether a trillion dollars is enough for the IMF, and the hope for a coordinated response to the global economic crisis.


To hear Dan Price's earlier interview, click here.

Before heading off to celebrate NATO's 60th birthday, world leaders heralded the show of unity at the G-20 summit. Their strong showing lifted global markets and mapped out a new future for financial regulation. Despite struggling to bridge deep divides over how to revive a paralyzed global economy, the leaders of the world’s largest economies agreed Thursday to bail out developing countries, stimulate world trade and regulate financial firms more stringently. For a recap of the outcome of the G-20 we turn to George Parker, political editor for the Financial Times.

Our friend David Sanger, Chief Washington Correspondent for the New York Times and author of The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power, is at the G-20 summit in London. He joins us with a road map of the leaders, the proposed options, the possible outcomes, and his own suggestion for the Presidential ipod.

For more, read his article with Mark Landler, Global Leaders Meeting to Resolve Rift on Economic Plan in today's New York Times.