in such a struggling economy every penny counts. joining us with tips on investing in 2011 at 2:00 p.m. eastern. then at 3:00, chef traveling the world tasting exotic foods. i'll ask him about the strangest meal he's ever had and find out what he is planning for thanksgiving. i'm fredericka whitfield, "your $$$$$" starts right now. do you want a quick fix or long-term solution? the clock is ticking on a lame duck congress deciding which option to choose to deal with your taxes and millions of unemployed americans. welcome to "your $$$$$." i'm ali velshi. jobless numbers which last for an unprecedented 99 weeks will run out november 30th. democrats pushing for another $12.5 billion into february.

this would extend the safety net for millions of americans for another four months. congress has already extended this deadline four times in the past year. unemployment still above 9%. what are we supposed to do? what happens if this doesn't pass? what happens if that life line to so many millions of americans depending on this unemployment check goes away? >> 4 million people will not have a $290 check every week, that will mean that money doesn't go into the economy. we know economists say a quick way to get money in the economy are food stamps. people are accepting them. there's no margin for error. they take that money and use it right away. we're under a new kind of reality in washington. that is this is an emergency situation that has become chronic and we need to figure out how to pay for these benefits and what the real long-term solution will be. >> new reality. new sentiment. roland martin, a cnn

contributor. tide is turning how americans think of government spending. 1994 when we polled one in three wanted the government to spend less on domestic programs. today they are split evenly whether to cut spending or not. washington spend $109 billion on jobless benefits. are americans ready to cut off long-term employees because it's costing more on taxes. >> people who have jobs, haven't been adversely impacted, of course they are saying that. when you look at people talking about the deficit, these are likely not the people struggling. earlier this week on the tom joyner morning show, he read a letter from a woman who for three years hasn't been able to find a job. she's been sending out resumes, going to the library, couldn't afford a drug test to become a trucker. she paid $600 for rent.

if she was late it cost $800. her mother moved in with her. you're talking about republicans extending tax cuts, costs for the rich $700 billion. $700 billion for them, $100 billion plus unemployment benefits. i say money well spent. as christine said that money goes back into the economy. what happens, they become homeless? food stamps? what happens to 4 million people. >> let's bring stephen in. he makes an interesting point. we know, we agree the money goes bought economy, people on unemployment, benefits don't have a cushion, they have to spend it. first i wan your view on that. secondly, is there some trade to be had here with republicans saying you extend the tax cuts, we'll extend unemployment benefits? >> ali, i do believe we should provide a cushion for people who lose their job.

there's no question about that. two years of unemployment insurance, it's unacceptable. this example you're talking about somebody three years getting government benefits. people should be able to find a job, any job after six months, nine months, a year. it's tough economy out there unemployment insurance benefits don't expand the economy. people don't start looking for a job until the benefits run out. >> we were talking about this the other day. christine. >> in normal times economists say that's true. there's a percentage of people who don't go looking for a job. these aren't normal times. after three years you should go out and get a job. there aren't any jobs. we don't have enough jobs. wait. steven, the issue is not whether we should extend unemployment benefits, you should do that forever. the question is when are the jobs going to come so people have a job to go to. that is the question and concern. >> here is my problem with the kind of compromise that was laid

out. i think it's essential that we extend these tax cuts, quote, for the rich, because those are the employers in the country. if you take money out of the hands of the employers, they don't have money for hiring people. we know from the statistics most of the people would get hit with the tax increase are people that are employers. let's face it, without employers you don't have jobs. maybe, ali, i like your idea. i'd go for a deal that says extend the tax cuts for everybody, i don't think the economy could stand a tax increase but also extend unemployment increase. you've got the framework for a deal. >> that's money we don't have. >> in soledad o'brien's black in america three, she profiled a gentleman without a job. she showed how many times unemployed, how many times sent out resumes, took off his vice president title. applying for jobs not even close to what he's making, still unable to find it.

when you sit here and say, you should be able to find a job. stephen, have you a job. i have a job. people out there we're hearing from them they can't find a job, even one tar below where they were before. >> i want to continue this discussion. hold on. you're going to get -- save it for the other side. i'm coming back to all of you. stay right there. in january republicans do take over the house. what stephen says is going to go a long way. we're going to ask him what changes when the republicans take over when we come back.

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this is the way forward. before the break everyone was hot under the collar. the extension of unemployment benefits versus cutting those people off and having them fend for themselves in the economy. >> it's a tough economy. how is it immigrants can come into this country from mexico and central america and within weeks of being here they have two or three jobs. there are jobs for people who want to work. a lot of people -- >> picking lettuce and citrus and things like that. >> here is the point. people really working hard to make ends meet, working two or three jobs, why should they pay more taxes for people two years who aren't going out to mcdonald's and getting a job. >> two things.

first of all, stephen, you contracted yourself. you talked about the rich folks with more money, they aren't working two or three jobs. they are forcing people below them to work two or three jobs. secondly, cnn has showed, based on previous data, where you had immigrants from mexico who actually, some 4 million who went back because of the economy last year. so don't simply assume they are coming here and taking jobs. when you talk about those very people. christine mention 4 million. the 4 million also have children. the 4 million have children in school. it goes beyond just the 4 million. the question you talk about housing, homeless shelters, philanthropy is down. as a result the normal safety net that's now fallen because of a tough economy. >> i want to ask you, i want your opinion on both these things. hold on a second. we have another poll here. we asked people on the cnn research poll, were the republican victories in the u.s. house races, were they a mandate for republican policies or

rejection of democratic policies? 17% say they were a mandate for republican policies, 70% say a rejection of democratic policies. stephen moore, how do the republicans in congress now govern, given that kind of a response? >> well, i agree with that poll completely. i think election results were a repudiation of democratic policies. what were those policies? what were people saying around the country? stop the spending. i think that is the mandate for this new congress. that means we have to bring some of these programs under control. but we also have to -- i keep hearing this talk about how we have to help people who don't have jobs. the best way to help people who don't have jobs is get them a job. i reject the idea that putting more taxes on employers is the way to get more jobs. >> we need more jobs. we all agree on that. >> first of all, can you answer the question? all you did was protect the same thing. the bottom line is this here, you asked the question, what are republicans going to do. you know what, ali they are not

going to touch defense. they are not going to confront medicare, social security. you know why? they understand when you tackle such monumental issues you're going to get burned. they are not going to touch immigration reform. they saw what happened to democrats when they touch health care. so where the bulk of our spending is, those three issues, republicans are not going to do it. they are going to focus on discretionary spending. >> i don't think that's fair. i'm very much -- i like a lot, christine, what that bipartisan commission came up with. it does touch social security, medicare, actually -- on the left new york city, no, we can't touch programs. >> nonelected commission. my point is this here, politicians, democrat and republicans do not want to tackle tough issues. they are not going to take tough votes. they are going to nibble around the edges. again, $500 billion discretionary spending. money on issues, show me --

>> we'll wrap up. we'll continue this discussion lots. love having you guys on here. i wish we had voted for both of you in congress. christine, roland, stephen, always a pleasure to have you here. congress, world leaders, economists, even cartoons lining up to get their shot in at the federal reserve. >> so has the fed ever been right about anything? >> let me see if i can think of anything. no, nothing. >> who runs the fed? >> the fed is run by ben bernanke. >> why is ben bernanke so unpopular? we'll find out what's behind the criticism. ♪

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to block pain signals for hours of relief. capzasin-hp. take the pain out of arthritis. don't change the channel. i'm about to say qe 2. i have lots of people around me, including christine romans, the plan to stimulate the economy by generating $600 billion in bonds is coming under attack this week from conservatives, economists and republicans. a letter signed by more than 22 political strategists and economists sent to federal reserve chairman ben bernanke says, and i quote, we believe the federal reserve's large scale asset purchase plan, so-called quantitative easing, should be reconsidered and discontinued. douglas is former director of congressional budget office and one of the signatories of this

letter. doug, good to see you. your signature is here. boil it down to 30 seconds for our viewers. what is the bottom line objection to qe 2, second round of quantitative easing, this fed buyup of bonds to put more money into the economy. >> this particular episode have cost that is far exceed the benefits. no one expects it to do much. it will create inflation, economic tensions, puts the fed in the cross fire, not worth it. returns to activism in monetary policy that didn't serve us well in the '60s and '70s. we have to look at these lessons and not do this. >> you don't buy ben bernanke and feds want the economy on the stronger footing, that's the most important thing first and foremost. if you don't get the economy on stronger footing we can't resolve global problems we're talking about. >> i agree we need to, this

isn't the way to do it. we disagree on the policy. >> what should the fed do, nothing. >> should hold onto in case we have a double dip recession, it would be valuable in that moment. not valuable now. >> richard, you have paid considerable attention to this and there has been considerable opposition from leaders around the world including the g-20 about this qe 2 that the u.s. is devaluing its currency and throwing off international efforts to fend off the remains of the recession. your thoughts. >> the germans have called it clueless. the brazilians have said it's a bit like throwing dollars out of a helicopter and just as useful. south africans have criticized it, as, indeed, have the chinese. the reasons they have criticized it, one of the reasons, one of the side effects of qe 2 will be to drive down the dollar. that's effectively a competitive

deevaluation otherwise known as beggar thy neighbor policy. countries are concerned around the world. we're seeing a certain amount of protectionist, albeit small at the moment, response. for douglas position, there are two main oppositions to this. there are those that say qe 2 will not work for the feds mandate of of employment and inflation. but there are those philosophically against it. they believe, as you were saying, the interventionist way to massage the economy in this manner is simply wrong. >> christine, what we've also seen is a currency war going on. we've seen the world tell china to raise currency. what did the u.s. do, in the end, by doing this, not the reason they did it, but by broug this money into the economy or suggesting they were doing to it has devalued the dollar, made it

lower versus other currencies. >> the treasury department doesn't run the fed but treasury defending what's going on in washington and saying we're not devaluing the dollar. we're trying to make the u.s. dollar stronger. >> makes americans goods cheaper to purchase and harder to buy goods from other places. why wouldn't that help the u.s. economy. >> that's the goal creating jobs. i want to zero in on doug here, the idea this will not create jobs. this is what ben bernanke used to sell this cd to people of this is about employment. do you think the jobs are going to come? >> look, this is at best going to drive counsel medium to long-term interest rates 30 to 40 basis points when they are at historic lows. we've got low interest rates. that's not our problem. our problems are deeper and involve the need for policies, cessation to heavy regulatory haneda rollback on health care reform, not raising taxes. all of those things are

controlled by people other than the federal reserve. they are well intentioned. but all they are going to do is create inflation. they are not going to change unemployment. that's going the wrong direction from the mandate. >> richard is groaning over there. >> first, i mean, the moment you heard dog say roll back health care plans, you know there's a political position or quasi political position. >> no, no. i seniorsly disagree with that. this is a bad law. >> it's a quasi political position you're taking in that respect. but the fact is to move to neutral territory, all those things he just suggested were not possible because of midterms now and the stalemate in washington. so the fed is the only game in town. if the fed doesn't do anything, things look a lot more risky. >> interesting thought. richard, thanks very much. this, of course, won't end any time soon. doug thank you for clearing up your position and what this letter is about. good to see you here.

christine, we'll be back in a moment. they preach fiscal responsibility but will they have the backbone when it toss to tackling the deficit. we'll talk with a tea party member and an editor that thinks they are just barking mad. what's around the corner is one of life's great questions. and while it can never be fully answered, it helps to have a financial partner like northern trust. by gaining a keen understanding of your financial needs, we're able to tailor a plan using a full suite... of sophisticated investment strategies and solutions. so whatever's around the corner can be faced with confidence.

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a lot of controversy surrounding the tea party with americans still trying to figure out what the party stands for, what the movement stands for. it's not a party, it's a movement. 38% have a favorable view of the tea party movement. 42% have an unfavorable view. pretty close. 20% are unsure. let's bring in one of the founders, mark skoda founder and chairman of memphis tea party. mark, now that the tea party has had some remarkable victories in the midterm elections, a great deal of influence on the voters and america, what is the number one issue that the tea party it's going to deal with? >> unquestionably, it is the debt, spending in washington that's out of control. i would say based on freshman

orientations and discussions in tennessee it's really about controlling the budget number one. >> mark, i want to bring in matt taibbi, also author of grift opia. what's your issue with the tea party movement? are they not fiscal republicans by another name? >> they are. i'm actually sympathetic with a lot of things the tea party talks about. i think they have been manipulated and come opted by the republican party which to me is trying to make the tea party and their voters advocates of the economic policies that their campaign contributors would want, the people on wall street and financial services industry are pushing for deregulatory policies that they hope the tea party voters will support. >> a good question, an interesting issue, mark. some people think the tea party manipulates the republican party. matt is suggesting the republicans with some economic issues are manipulating the tea

party. you and i have had this conversation. it's a weird alliance. a lot of things the tea party is concerned about respect to spending and deficits and debts were born by the republican party. >> absolutely. it's interesting, matt is right. somehow the per accepting is the republican party come opt-opted tea party. we just had a nomination for the speaker. the tea party was against the particular nominee. she won by apparently one vote. we have a problem about that, the way it went about and we're frankly antagonistic to the process. you can't segment the tea party saying it's a republican extension. it is not. we have fundamental disagreements. if you're looking at the food safety billion before us in committee, apparently a problem we'll deal with. spending generally we disagree with that we're not interested in supporting a specific agenda of the deregulatory environment that republicans have reported, we are focused on fiscal

responsibility and making sure the constitution is adhered to to the greatest extent possible, fidelity, if you will, and finally focusing on those free markets. i think you'll find quite frankly in the coming two years now that we've had this great legislative victory, i would argue the tea party amplified the affect. i won't take personal credit for it but amplified the affect. i think that's a positive outcome. >> let's look at this other poll i've got for you. it shows a real split on whether the tea party movement should become its own party. right now you're operating in congress with republicans. as you said, 48%, the same number said yes and no to the question, should the tea party movement become a third party that runs against the democrats and republicans. mark, your view on that? >> boy, you know, i have been one of the voices that suggests that doesn't work. there's such a huge infrastructure in place on both parties to overcome come that is difficult. get involved in selecting

candidates, focus on primaries. having a said that, if republicans don't govern appropriately and address concerns of the tea party you'll see states form third party efforts. regrettably i think that's a potential disaster for conservatives. on the other hand this is america and we have freedom of choice still. i would suggest to you i think the republicans need to be aware of the aspirations of the tea party movements and, indeed, govern as such. >> matt, to what degree did the democrats cause this movement in perhaps not dealing with what felt like regular people, regular workers, taxpayers in america. there are some people who think this administration is focused too much on the financial sector and rescuing the financial sector. >> i think that's absolutely true. a lot of my sources on wall street say exactly the same thing. after the crash in 2008 when the economy was in ruin, everybody said this should have been a teaching moment for the democratic party where they went out to ordinary people and

blue-collar americans and said, look, this is what happened to you. you've been robbed, stolen from in the last two years. here is who did it. we're going to fix this problem, come in with changes. ordinary americans were screaming for an explanation, what happened to us of the democrats didn't provide that explanation. the tea party did. they come up with a coherent suggestion that was digest i believe. barack obama brought back timothy bitener and ben bernanke, the two big architects of the bush bailout policy. >> but you remember at the time it sounded like a smart move, bring people in who know how the financial system works because it was coming apart at the seams. >> i don't see how you can run against the bush bailout policies if you have absolute continuity with their policies. that was a big debate and seeded a lot of the debate with the tea party. >> mark, would that change things if the administration would shake up advisers who seemed to be too close to this wall street and deregulatory

environment? >> i think sort of that's one element, right. but i think it's more about fundamental policy issues, how big government should be, how intrusive. look what's happening today in this discussion with tsa. we are suggesting this big government idea of federalizing, if you will states right, opposing policies of the left and right administration. on the other hand i will tell you it is clear to me discussing with people in tennessee, a lot of people are focusing on the state issues. we won 985 seats in state legislatures, now it's time to act as legislators and be appreciative of the tea party's impact. >> excellent. thanks very much for joining us. mark skoda, founder and chairman of memphis tea party.

matt taibbi, editor for rolling stone and author of a book. thank you for talking to me. once bankrupt general motors comes roaring back to wall street literally and figuratively. can the white house take credit for it? first how a new york institution known for clowning around found itself in very serious financial turmoil. stephanie elam explains in this week's turnaround. >> reporter: life isn't always a circle, especially if you're the big apple circus. >> we've gone from $23 to $17 million in past years. that's a pretty big cutback. >> a budget cut meant layoffs but the show had to go on. >> what happened in the ring is everything. we made sure to protect this portion of the budget and made cuts elsewhere. >> reporter: cutting the budget without cutting the quality of the performance. >> extremely careful.

there were some choices that i made to contribute to the overall savings. we have not cut corner in the product and the artistry that we deliver. i think there is a lot to be said about that. >> reporter: precision has paid off. ticket sales are up. the circus raised over a million dollars at its annual benefit gala. >> we're beginning to see positive trends. clearly we need to build on them and continue to do the work we do. we're beginning to see some signs that the audiences are coming back. that's exciting to see. >> exciting signs for a company that's been walking a financial tightrope. >> is this a turnaround season? i hope so. the thing about the business, it's not going to all happen in one second. we have a long season. our performers know how to pace themselves because it is a long season. i think that's what we're going to have to do as a business. pace ourselves and build ourselves back. don't expect the silver bullet. keep working, doing the good

work. i know people will support us. >> stephanie elam, cnn, new york. ♪ [ man ] i thought our family business would always be boots. until one day, my daughter showed me a designer handbag. and like that, we had a new side to our business. [ male announcer ] when businesses see an opportunity, the hartford is there. protecting their employees and property and helping them prepare for the future. nice boots. nice bag. [ male announcer ] see how the hartford helps businesses at achievewhatsahead.com.

so long government motors. less than 18 months since the government steered gem motors into bankruptcy. the bailout automaker roared back. the initial public offering of stock raised more than $20 billion. a triumphant return to wall street that president obama touted as a success story of the recession.

>> we are finally beginning to see some of these tough decisions that we made in the midst of crisis pay off, and i'm absolutely confident that we're going to keep on making progress. >> peter valdez, writer from money.com. cy teen, gm ipo. is this confirmation the obama auto bailout worked. with credit to george bush, he was in the idea as well. did this work? >> in a word, yes. but it worked in terms of surviving and keep the company alive. now it has to prove it can make a car people want to buy and compete against ford and others, ford who didn't have to have a bailout. >> of the money put into gm money outstanding. >> they are not made whole. how many jobs were saved by saving the company in the first place. depends how you rate the return on investment. >> some say a million, i tend to

believe that. peter for all the if anythings and whether they can pay back gm has to do what any competitive privately owned car company needs to do, make cars people want to buy and make lots of them. >> gm has been on that path for a long time for building a better product. if you look at all their recent product, the bux, regulicks, la cadillacs, these cars have been selling really, really well. they have just been flying off the lots. one thing gm has learned how to do finally is make cars that people actually want to buy. in terms of things like dependability, they have some work to do in that department. ford motor company has become world-class on dependability. their cars they are turning out are as good as anything from gm and honda. they can do that but still it's

not like people -- >> it's unfair to talk about how american made cars suck. >> absolutely. they don't. not anymore. chrysler still has a lot of work to do. they are doing major turn arnold schwarzenegger. they unveiled a whole slew of redesigned products in l.a. that look better than old stuff. gm in particular has learned a lesson how to make cars that you look at and say, i want to get one of those. when you drive it and get inside, it's really more surprising. >> peter knows this because he tries out everything that comes out there. peter has also been tinkering with electric cars and hybrid electric cars. coot future of the auto industry be gasoline-free? i recently had the opportunity to drive nissan's new electric car the leaf. in my passenger seat was the ceo of the company. is this a big stretch at this point for the average car buyer to get into this? >> no. >> what's the -- >> it's not going to be a big

stretch. i think first people would like to know what an electric car looks like. how does it feel to drive it. what kind of, you know - what is the interface with electric car. how do i charge it. it is complicated. >> the only difference between this and a normal inductive car is the charging, from a driver's perspective. that's the difference. >> the big difference between this and a combustion engine. first the charger, the electricity. a lot of things. there's no nose, no vibration, no smell. there is no gasoline. no gasoline. there is no exhaust pipe. there is no reservoir. so there are a lot of changes for the driver. >> right out of the gate there are two cars people think of as electric cars. there's this and the chevy volt. you seem to think there's a distinct difference here because you walked me around the car and

showed me no muffler. >> this car in no way use gasoline for nothing. we tend to say an electric car is a car that does not use gasoline. no exhaust pipe, no ejection. any car using gasoline is automatically a hybrid of some sort. a motor and an engine. you can see the engine is not used to charge the car, used to charge the battery, but you're still using gasoline. the objective for us, obviously we have hybrids. but this is not about hybrid. this is about having a technology and having a car which is totally, totally neutral in terms of the emissions to the environment. >> ultimately how big a role will electric cars play not just in nissan but in the automobile industry? >> my projection is that 10 years down the road 2020, 10% of the global car market will be made by electric cars. >> i have to tell you, i loved

that car. peter, you have compared it to the volt. the difference is the volt, when you ran out of battery charge, an electric gasoline engine kicks in. this one you have to work around charging stations. >> right. that is a big difference. it makes a difference in how the car feels but ultimately makes a difference in how people feel about the car and driving it. i think a car like the leaf is going to have a little more of a challenge. i think initially it's going to sell better with the people who really want to help the environment. you're making a full commitment. >> how does it feel? that's a big reservation some people have, it's going to feel like you're driving an electric car. >> peter said it clearly, it doesn't feel like you're driving an experiment. >> feels like you're driving a real compact car. i found it fun. >> i did, too. the introduction of electric or mostly electric cars.

people will look back on this and say you guys were talking about whether you thought it was going to work. thank you. we've barely come out of the last financial crisis, but could another be around the corner? it's a question people are asking. but first how prepared are you for retirement? christine has this week's mastering your money. >> john bog le, "don't count on it." welcome to the program. are americans prepared for retirement? what is the one thing they can do today to get back on track if they don't think they are. >> very few americans are well prepared for retirement. the way to do it is start early. people forget that. invest more than you think you need to invest, month after month after month. start early and invest regularly is the best way to get prepared for retirement. make adequate contributions and make them early and then gets

lower a -- the slopes gets less steep if you follow that rule. >> announcer: mastering your money property to you by td aameritrade. questions about retirement? i talk to their retirement account specialists. bonds? grab the phone. fixed-income specialist. td ameritrade knows investors sometimes need real, live help. not just one broker... a whole team there to help... to help me decide what's right for me. people with answers at td ameritrade. get up to $500 when you open an account. of all of the hard work and effort you've put in. oh wow, it's going to be great. i think i'm going to cry. [ laughs ] it's gonna mean so much, because i've made it. you know. i'm going to realize "i did it". and nobody can take that away from me. [ man #1 ] it's sort of bittersweet, only, because it's the end of something that i've put a lot of time and a lot of effort into. but it's also the beginning of something new.

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we're probably far away from the financial crisis of 2008 to look back and try and figure out what happened, what went wrong and how it doesn't happen again. lately on the show we focused on movies and books helping to bring some of the complex causes of financial crisis into focus for people who haven't been following it as closely. i've got another one for you. this is a must read. bethany mclean is here, "all the devils are here." these two have dug into what happened in the financial crisis and how we can prevent it from happening again. bethany wrote an article about the coming collapse of enron. she blew the whistle on that early. you're familiar with trying to get to the bottom of coming things. i read your book. is the cause of what we went through pure old-fashioned greed? is it the fact there hasn't been

enough regulation of the financial industry? or is it just a basic thing about how you used to go to your bank to get a mortgage, they knew who you were and now that's not the case. >> all of the above. i think one of the things that's happened in the wake of the financial crisis, we've been looking for a villain. it's become polarized, sometime greedy jerks who wrecked our system. we titled it "all the devil, here." it spans many decades and a cast of characters. >> weird. 1346 the obvious villains are less villainous an a lot of less obvious villains who might have actually been trying to get home ownership to more people and trying to keep mortgages accessible to more people, and they have ended up really messing up the system? >> one of the constant stories of wall street is good things taken to extreme become very bad things. the notion of creating securities out of mortgages started with a great idea.

find way to get more capital to american homeowners and became over the decades a dangerous thing. the story we tell is that story. >> one of the impetus behind the securization of mortgages all of these baby boomers. so many people needed money to borrow for houses and some sense that there wouldn't be enough money to lend them. creating more money for more loans. >> exactly. what nobody saw, two things would happen. one, housing would become the investment of choice in a world of super low interest rates courtesy of alan greenspan and the others did see this. this mechanism called securitization would sever the link no relationship any more and the lender didn't have to care if the borrower could pay back the loan. >> security taization, take a bunch of the mortgages sell them and they parch them out and sell them as bonds. the person holding the loan in the end has no relationship to the homeowner? >> absolutely. one more ingreed, the person holding the loan at the end can think they're getting something

safe without having done any of the underlying work, because this whole mechanism depended on the good housekeeping skill approval stamped on them by the rating agencies. >> talk about whether this can happen again. the biggest concern. can this financial collapse, the likes we haven't seen since the great depression happen again? look at the poll. 63% of americans say, yes. 36% say no. which group is right. >> the optimistic way to look at this. the expected never happens. the fact people think it's going to happen may mean it won't. the far less optimistic way to look at it, the story of the crisis is a story of a society living beyond its means. a story of a debt field binge in the united states and also around the world and we are not out of that yet. in fact, still in the throes of it. >> this means we are all participants in this, those who liked buying houses that went up at a low interest rate. what happens to us if the thing changes? what will our future look like if we don't have a debt-fueled

economy? >> so hard to say. i think we are facing a more austere future under any scenario you can imagine. i hope we made hard decisions now make choices rather than haves choices hoisted upon us. >> that's the big decision. thank you very much, excellent book. beth sni the co-author of "all the devils are here" contributing eder to "vanity fair." thousands in credit card debt bogging you down. a more common problem than you think. how to be debt-free in just a few short years after this. [ female announcer ] in the grip of arthritis, back, or back joint pain?

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$13,000 in credit dard ked may not sound like a lot. it is. and it's not uncommon. >> you've got to get out of debt. $13,000 takes a lot of time to dig out from under, and you need to make a deal with yourself to get out of that kind of debt in just three to five years. you cannot invest in your future until you've paid off the past. credit counselor david fluor showed me how to do it. you're on the ropes. right? >> uh-huh. >> you've got rent or mortgage. >> uh-huh. >> a car loan. you've got groceries. >> yes. >> got a student loan. and you can't afford -- you just lost your job. how do you prioritize the bakes

even? student loan, get a deferment? >> yes. i was going say, look at this. where is there assistance? student loan companies typically help with hardships. >> lower interest rates too, right? >> usually they do. yes. so putting these into deferment or forbearance can help. you're alienating think, even if it's temporary. >> get tough on groceries. tight be up? >> yes. renter, mortgage, long term. is your situation, do you see it changes? >> you might need to downsize? >> yes. the hardest part. downsizing an apartment, people don't want to do that. sometimes it's needs to be done if their situation is a long-term situation, not short term. >> bottom line, $13,000 of credit card bill, credit card debt at 29% interest. paid the minimum, take 35 years. most people don't know that they don't. >> they just don't know it. that is a long time. a life time. >> right. if you can afford to make the

minimum payment, where you can pay off your debt sooner, greats. if you can't afford to pay the minimum payment, that interest rate, 30% is a lot. seeking credit counseling will help to try and get those payments manageable, get that interest rate down to maybe a 10% interest rate, a 6% interest rate. something manageable so you can pay off that debt without shelling out, you know, a ton of extra money. >> right. >> seeking credit counseling, nonprofit credit counselors. states have specific rules how much you pay to get out of debt. be careful of the debt settlement agencies, those ads you see. anybody that telling you can get out of debt quickly and easily for free is lying to you. one of the toughest parts of digging out debt, ali, knowing how to get started. realizing what the number is, ali. what is the number. >> yes. >> and when i was writing my book i found so many people just put the bills in the top drawer, didn't want to face what that number is. you've got to know the number and begin to chip away at