The "Too Big To Fail" FAIL

Two years after a massive government bailout that pulled the financial industry back from the abyss, lending is tight and job growth is barely moving. Yet the market for over the counter derivatives is again booming.

Long-time Newsweek economics correspondent Michael Hirsh suggests that Barack Obama's economics team helped the big banks become big winners by bailing them out without holding the institutions accountable to get the economy back on track.

So is it back to business as usual for Citigroup, Bank of America and the rest? Hirsh talks about the reforms that have been put in place and the lack of an ideological debate over the intersection between finance and politics.

Hirsh is currently Chief Economics Correspondent with the National Journal.

LISTEN: MICHAEL HIRSH - CAPITAL OFFENSE

An (Inked) Body of Work

Starting in the 1880s, curious folks would line up and shell out cash to peek at women who were covered with tattoos. Part of the attraction of this attraction was the amount of skin on display; in those times not much above the ankle was seen in public.

As the "tattooed lady" showed off her heavily illustrated skin, patrons heard amazing tales of abduction, torture and even in-utero deformity. These tales were false, but the women who made up the "show" were covered with real body illustration.

In her book, TATTOOED LADY: A HISTORY, Amelia Klem Osterud traces the colorful history of the women who made a career out of their body ink.

LISTEN: AMELIA KLEM OSTERUD - TATTOOED LADY

The Other Emerging Market

Much discussion about the future of the global economic picture has been about Asia. But as China and India grab larger slices of the world's economic pie, Brazil is also lining up for a larger piece. The country of nearly 200 million is an agricultural powerhouse that is far closer to true energy independence than the U.S. will be any time in the near future.

Journalist Larry Rohter has covered Brazil for nearly a decade as the South American Bureau chief of the New York Times. Rohter says that Brazil's strength in agriculture, manufacturing and energy places the country in a unique position.

LISTEN: LARRY ROHTER - BRAZIL ON THE RISE