China is weighing in on U.S. lawmakers' failure to make any meaningful progress on the government debt limit, during increasingly tense budget talks in the White House. China holds more than $1 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities, and a failure to reach a debt agreement would result in a credit downgrade for the United States, and devalue China’s holdings.

Yesterday, our partner The New York Times reported that the United States Treasury Department is printing far less cash than it had been in recent years. Production of dollar bills fell to a modern low last year, the number of $5 bills rolling off the presses dropped to its lowest level in 30 years, and the Treasury did not print any $10 bills at all. As the number of places that don't accept cash at all increases — Internet retail sites, in-flight purchases on airlines, and certain New York restaurants fall into that category — it would seem that cash is in decline. With no quantifiable data to support this, however, we can only speculate. Do you find yourself using cash less and less, and opting for credit instead?

This month, the U.S. Congressional Oversight Panel released a new report that looks at how effective goverment efforts have been at stemming the tide of foreclosures. It questions whether the U.S. Treasury's strategies will lead to permanent mortgage modifications for many homeowners, and expresses concern about the limited scope and scale of the Making Home Affordable program.

We talk with the chair of the panel, Elizabeth Warren, and Brian Murphy, who knows from first-hand experience the difficulties of modifying a home loan .

Yesterday the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the symbolic threshold of 10,000. New York Times finance reporter Louise Story says the news is interesting, but it doesn't say much about the overall health of the economy. Something that might: the banking sector. Also joining the conversation is New York Times economics correponsdent Edmund Andrews with a look at how the U.S. Treasury wants some bailed-out banks to start paying back their loans.

We speak with Louise Story, finance reporter for The New York Times, about new findings that say the Treasury Department may have misled the country when it declared some of the nation's largest banks "healthy."

This week in The Takeaway's Monday agenda: the Senate confirmation hearings of Sonia Sotomayor, the health care debate continues, bank earnings out this week may cause some controversy and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is in Europe and the Middle East. The Takeaway is joined by Marcus Mabry, the International Business Editor for The New York Times. Also joining the show is the BBC's Diplomatic Correspondent Jonathan Marcus.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is in Beijing for a two-day visit to meet with top Chinese government officials including President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. He is there to reassure his Chinese hosts they they need not worry about the $770 billion they've invested in U.S. treasuries. China being the biggest single purchaser of U.S. treasuries. The Takeaway is joined by BBC's Quentin Somerville who is in Beijing and following this closely.

For more on Geithner's visit to China, watch the video below.

The Takeaway talks to Marcus Mabry, International Business Editor for The New York Times, and BBC Arab Affairs Analyst Magdi Abdel Hadi about what's in the headlines for the week ahead. Topics include President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner hitting the road, GM contining the long, slow walk to bankruptcy, and predictions that unemployment numbers may hit nine percent for the first time in a quarter of a century.

Try to imagine tracking $700 billion dollars as it moves out the doors of the United States Treasury Department and into the coffers of America's biggest banks. That's essentially the charge of our guest, Elizabeth Warren. Warren, the Gottlieb Professor of Law at Harvard University, is the Chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel, which watches where the TARP money goes. When President Obama talks about transparency, she's the one who helps make it happen. She joins The Takeaway in advance of a new TARP report due out today.

For more from Elizabeth Warren, click here for her interview on personal finance

Which banks will need more money? See our report card

A while ago, the federal government ordered the nation's banks to under go stress tests to see how they would fare in a severe financial crisis. The results are in. So how stressed are our banks? Well the results of those tests have been delayed several times. Now they are said to be coming out on Thursday. Some financial watchers are wondering if getting the answer to that question will help relieve the stress on the economy? Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says so, but Peter Morici, economist and professor at the School of Business at the University of Maryland, joins The Takeaway with his thoughts on how these tests will affect the markets.

The day of reckoning is at hand for banks required to undergo government "stress tests." Today federal regulators will meet with the leaders of the nation's biggest banks to tell them how they did. Banks have until early next week to dispute the results, which will be released to the public on May 4. Eric Dash, who writes about banking for the New York Times, joins The Takeaway with a look at what the tests are likely to reveal and what the results will mean for the recovery of the economy.

For more, read Eric Dash's article, U.S. to Tell Big Banks the Results of Stress Test, in today's New York Times.