In 1994, a group of young J.P. Morgan bankers met for a weekend retreat in the South Florida city of Boca Raton, a fateful trip during which the bankers first conceived of credit derivatives, a creative financial tool that helped hasten the recession. President Obama and Governor Romney debate in Boca Raton today. Financial Times editor Gillian Tett explores the beginning of the financial crisis.

The Group of 20 is meeting in Cannes, France, today for the beginning of its two-day summit. The atmosphere surrounding the meeting of the leaders of the world’s largest economies is very tense. Gillian Tett of the Financial Times, and New York Times business and finance correspondent Liz Alderman join us for today’s Backstory and discusses what we can expect out to come out of the summit and whether the G-20 summit can help address the Eurozone debt crisis.

Markets around the world rallied on the news that European leaders had reached an agreement to solve the Euro zone debt crisis. The Dow Jones ended the day up 339 points and stocks appear headed for their best month since 1974. Was this the equivalent of Europe avoiding a Lehman Brothers-type disaster, or was yesterday just the latest in a series of dramatic rallies followed by steep declines that we've seen in this year's up and down market?

Monday’s debt ceiling deal might satisfy those rating agencies that warned of a possible downgrade of the United States' credit rating if the the parties did not end the political stalemate. But does the deal reassure agencies worried about the fundamental weaknesses of the U.S. economy? Gillian Tett, a managing editor of the Financial Times, says a downgrade is inevitable and she tells us what to expect from the different ratings agencies and how the markets will react to an impending downgrade.

At a time when citizens in Britain are bracing for sharp spending cuts, Prince William, the heir to the throne, proposed to his longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton. Many Britons hope the upcoming wedding will be a boost to the country's economy, with people in industries ranging from tourism to fashion and food retail reaping the financial benefits of the media storm. But some economists say royal weddings do not bring as much revenue they once did. We talk with Gillian Tett, a managing editor of the Financial Times, about the tourism revenue the wedding could bring in.

As the meeting of the world’s 20 richest economies gets under way in Seoul, Gillian Tett, the U.S. managing editor and an assistant editor for the Financial Times, describes what leaders hope to accomplish at the G-20 summit. Plus, a look at the global reaction to last week’s announcement that the Federal Reserve would buy $600 billion in Treasury Bonds.

A year ago today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury bailed out mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. By the end of the week, financial behemoth Lehman Brothers had filed for bankruptcy and a global economic crisis had taken hold. We start a week of coverage that looks at the repercussions of the financial meltdown and where we're at, a year after it began.

We are joined by a roundtable of leading business journalists including Gillian Tett, capital markets editor for The Financial Times and author of “Fools Gold: How the Bold Dream of a Small Tribe at J.P. Morgan Was Corrupted by Wall Street Greed and Unleashed a Catastrophe;” Jon Hilsenrath, chief economics correspondent for The Wall Street journal; and New York Times business columnist Joe Nocera.

Listen to all the segments in this series.