welcome to the "wall street journal report." i'm maria bartiromo. another country edges to the brink. could it bring down the american economy? what it means to you and your money. the americans face-off in a debate. who won, who lost? we'll talk to both experts in the aisle, the politicians. kids in high school may be less than prepared for a future now, but why they remain

optimistic. here's a look at what's making news as we head into a new week on wall street. it appears italy is pulling back from the economic brink. interest rates on its ten-year bond soared past 7% this week. important because this is more than the italian government can pay on a long-term basis. the rates rose on concerns that italy's economic growth had slowed and the ruling political party was unable to stimulate the economy or put an austerity program in place. later rates settled down and fears did ease after lawmakers appeared ready to replace prime minister with a new government and pass an austerity budget. those fears about the italian debt sent the dow plunging 300 points on wednesday, the highest since august. earning season is winding down, but two dow components reported this week. cisco beat analysts expectations, reversing a recent trend, and disney did well also. starbuck's is getting all juiced

up. the company hoping to squeeze more profit will soon be opening juice bars. starbuck's recently acquired evolution fresh for $30 million and has yet to say how many new outlets there will be and if they will carry the star brux brand. has the global economy reached a tipping point about italy's debt or is it a flexible problem? who better to address this than marty finestein. marty, nice to have you on the program. thanks for joining us. >> good to be back with you. >> let's talk about italy first. we saw the italian bond yield rise at 7%. why is this number so important? >> well, because italy has an enormous debt now, and if it has to pay 7% interest on that debt as it rolls it over, it's going to reach an explosive amount of debt which will push the economy into insolvency. so it's got to bring that number

down. >> so it seems we've moved past greece. now we're focused on italy. is italy the world's seventh largest economy, fourth largest bond market. how dangerous is italy's debt issue? >> well, it's very dangerous but it's also very fixable. >> in what ways? >> well, let me say first that italy is running a primary surplus. that means if you set the interest on the national debt aside, it actually has a budget surplus. so if they expand that budget surplus by 2 or 3% of gdp, they will be able to bring down the debt to gdp ratio and markets will breathe a sigh of relief and interest rates will come down. so it's really a question of whether the new government that follows mr. burlesconi, whether they will adopt policies that make a significant dent in their

fiscal deficit. >> do you think the u.s. needs to get involved? what impact does this have on the u.s. economy? >> well, we don't need to get involved. if italy is in trouble and if europe is in trouble, that will hurt our exports. it will, to some effect, affect our banks, but our banks are not holding a lot of italian debt or greek debt, so i would say this is not something we need to get involved in, it's something the italians have to do themselves. >> so what's your view on the u.s. economy right now? do you think we're still at risk for a double dip recession. >> well, the last quarter was better than the ones before, but that was primarily because the households cut their saving in order to spend more. i don't think we're going to see them continuing to cut their saving, and, therefore, i think we're going to limp along with a relatively new low, gay parade

for the next year, 2% or so, with the risk that if there was some negative shock, we could actually turn into a double dip. >> meanwhile, we're getting close to this congressional deadline for the super, they've got that sded line of november 23rd oochlt i can talked to members on both sides of the aisle in that competent ke. but frankly, i think they're so far apart that what i would say is they're engaged in a place that would pay off during the localization. and it involves the and think and the government observing part of the under watering georges. toe me if it works and do you

think you'll find fibls positivesier, caster, the banks, or, to a large extent it's fanny and freddy. practitioner and other kroefrd wroo wroun that are in exchange for the government matching that right down. so if you have someone with a mortgage that's, say, 140% loan to value ratio, the specific that had i put forward was this would get written down to 110 ers. deferred on that mornl aj and swupd away. s cause of that pipedown. all right, marty. great analysis as always. we so appreciate your time today

thai, marty. up next, the presidential report for the presidential nomination. who as as a chance to kickstart the economy, why what graduating in another patient. look, we could have the stock market end of the week. guys, in 10 minutes, we're going to head back down the hill. down the hill? man: all right. we were actually thinking, maybe... we're going to hike up here, so we'll catch up with you guys. [ indistinct talking and laughter ] whew! i think it's worth it. working with a partner you can trust is always a good decision. massmutual. let our financial professionals help you reach your goals.

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welcome back. eight candidates aiming to go against president obama in 2012 met in michigan this week for the first republican debate focused on economic issues only. i was privileged to co-moderate this wide-ranging discussion. let's take a look at the highlights. italy is on the brink of financial disaster. as president, what will you do

to make sure their problems do not take down the u.s. financial system? >> europe is able to take care of their own problems. we don't want to step in and try to bail out their banks and bail out their governments. they have the capacity to deal with that themselves. they're a very large economy focused on the domestic economy or we will fail. the third agency of government i would do away with education, the -- commerce and, let's see, i can't -- the third one i can't. sorry. >> i think ben bernanke is a large part of the problem and ought to be fired as rapidly as possible. i think the federal reserve ought to be audited and we should have all the decision documents for 2008, '09 and '10 being accide'10, so we can understand who he bailed out, who he did not bail out. >> everyone benefits from this

magnificent country. so even if it means paying the price of two happy meals a year, like $10, everyone can afford to pay at least that. you know the chairmen are reluctant to hire employees where there are character issues. why should the american people hire a president who they feel there are character issues. >> people can do better than something based on unfounded opinions. he was chief economic adviser on the cain campaign in 2008. and economic adviser to vice president biden. good to have you on the program. welcome. >> thank you. >> doug was there when the other night? >> i think there were several candidates who probably improved their chances. certainly newt gingrich increased his odds largely by sparring with you, maria, and you saw another solid performance by mitt romney. i think those two stand out as

having the best nights. >> what's your reaction? >> i agree. romney, he continues to seem most centered, most presidential. he's extremely careful not to make any of the kind of mistakes that others -- i won't name names -- did, and yet i didn't hear much from him or anyone else on a real policy agenda to help this economy get back on track on either the near or longer long term. >> one of the questions i asked was about the tax reform plans, because all of the candidates have tax reform plans as a way to lead to job creation. do you think that's the path toward job creation? >> i certainly think it's one piece of the puzzle. for example, if you look at the bull simpson commission, the one the president appointed and didn't do much with, that's a bipartisan commission that said, look, the route to the future is a tax reform that lowers the corporate rate, moves us to a territorial base, makes us

internationally competitive. i think you're seeing that echoed in the republican candidates, each of which has a plan, and each of which is pointing to it as part of the piece of the puzzle that we have to address. >> i tell you, it was a tough night for governor perry, that's for sure, forgetting that agency he wants to close down. is he done? what's your take, jerry? >> i can't imagine his supporters helping him too much going forward. let me say a word about tax reform. first of all, tax reform takes a long time, and again, i don't hear any near-term sluolutions r the 9% rate that will be with us for a long time. also, when you talk about tax report, you have to be specific. the 9-9-9 plan cuts dramatically at the top. i don't think that's going to help jobs, i think that's

further going to in escapee qualities. they're already forbedded of the most charity. according to the -- for a republican that big coordinates are working on it. i really only heard two things the whole night. candidate romney's idea for going after chinese clerks man amateur ship. we've got the president's lower approval rating on the committee is he's the president and we've got a lower economy. investment in infrastructure,

extending unemployment benefits, those actually pull in the stratosphere. >> there obviously is voter frustration about the unemployment situation. they are possibly laying blame at the administration which has said a lot country, that ideas, then he's pushing. if you look inside that very same bo land, the president remains policy and his conclude backs. meg. that's not a successful exchange, but instead of attacking the kohl ties. it's a specific policy, it's a change from the status kroets and dais vv to have die jes

active and i think tail be very successful in do that. >> did you hear any who has the best plan? autos i think you have we're headed straight toward a debt crisis so we have to stop spending so much. we are really overregulating the economy. there is stock for doing that. and you hear half success in the 80s with tax reform. skin some thengz with these targeted policies that one tlum slus. we started debate on wednesday night on urs in down another 400 points today.

most of the candidates preferred to short ilgtly know is a major issue. >> it was probably good tell so particularically pry brother. inspirational -- they're just not interested in any more bailouts, particularly of institutions across our border. so the follow significances the depending contagion and let me think of go you want ton the potential of this con teenage. >> we will hit jar a and doug. gooz to have on you the program. coming of age in this new memorial. how today's answer rickers

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every time a local business opens its doors or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business. it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities. that's why we extended $7.8 billion to small businesses across the country so far this year. because the more we help them, the more we help make opportunity possible. areolder americans prospering while younger generations are left with a slice of the pie. the median wealth of all house holds has grown 42% in the last quarter century.

at the same time, a network of house holds run by someone 35 and under has declined by 68%. joining me now is marie malone, the author of a new york magazine cover story called "the kids are actually sort of all right." great piece. we want to really zero in on this, because older households are seven times younger. that number was just 10 to 1. what happened? >> there were a couple things that happened. a lot of your household's wealth comes from your housing assets. young people are not able to buy homes. that's another piece of the pie. the other piece of the pie are they're taking out other debts to go to college. the amount here is $25 million. >> what does this mean for

20-something's employment and their potential for earnings. >> it's not great. the avrnl 20 -- which is nearly twice what it is for persons over the aim of 25. that's a pretty wide gap and likely to be able to get a job in the future when employers start hiring again, they're going to look fresh out of school for those entry lefl jobs. >> for the youngest workers, how does graduating during a recession impact income? >> there are several studies that say different things. on average, you make 4 the $4 a month, which is a inspect being told to move into your peoples still has one that those but

please evidence suggests. this is the liberal arts. people were getting very practical from the get-go, or maybe they're studying pharmacy. >> will your generation be better off than your parents? >> that's an interesting question. i hope so. i want to think so. most americans think we're not, but most people in my age group give my answer, i hope. so i think so. they might be referring to things other than wealth. they might be referring to lifestyle, to happiness which is an interesting shift in attitude. >> why has the younger generation been hit so hard in this recession? >> well, there are a couple things. psychologically, it's something that we were not ready for. we grew up in this time of

unparalleled economic prosperity. many of us grew up in the '80s and the '90s where it seemed like we got hit. and first hired, first fired. if you were the low man on the totem pole, you're going to be the first person to go, you know. so that is one very simple reason. >> some very interesting statistics here and a tough story. good to have on you the program. >> good to be here. >> up next on the wall street journal report. we'll take a look at the news this upcoming week and we'll have an impact on your money. the global market's ups and downs. keeping with profits. [ thunder rumbles ] what is the sign of a good decision? in the world of personal finance, it's massmutual. find strength and stability in a company that's owned by its policyholders.

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if you'll follow me at twitter@mariabartiromo. now look at the stories ahead that may impact your money. we'll get news from home depot and walmart as well as lowe's, target and dell computer. retailers released sales numbers for the month of october. we get the price index out on tuesday. wednesday the consumer price index will be out. that, of course, tracks inflation at the consumer level. then on thursday we get the number of new residential units that began construction last month with the release of housing starts figures. finally today, what's he looking at? roadway lichtenstein's 1960

painting of a man in a peephole. i can see the whole room and there's nobody in it sold for $43.2 million last week. that's a new record for the pop artist. 13 new sales records were created over a $247 million evening. planning a sweet spot for the world's wealthiest investors is a fine art. that will do it for us today. thanks so much for joining us. next week turkey day approaches. a look at thanksgiving dinner by the numbers. each week keep it here where wall street meets main street. have a great week, everybody. i'll see you nweekend.