Economist and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz discusses public debt and argues that concerns over debt are crowding out the relief and recovery policies that the United States—and other nations facing debt problems—needs. Stiglitz was chairman of President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers and served as senior vice president and chief economist at the World Bank, and his most recent book is The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future.

Some pundits, including New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, have proposed minting a trillion dollar coin as a way for Democrats to avoid a debt ceiling fight with Republicans. Is the proposal legal? Is anyone taking it seriously? Todd Zwillich, our Washington correspondent, explains.

Kathryn Wylde, CEO of the Partnership for New York City, discusses how the fiscal cliff debate affects New York and her work as part of the Fiscal Leadership Council for the Fix the Debt campaign.

David Graeber, an American anthropologist at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and author of DEBT: The first 5,000 years discusses the Strike Debt Rolling Jubilee-- the Occupy movement's effort to abolish debt and offer a bailout for the 99%.

There's a fundraiser tonight at Le Poisson Rouge. Info here.

30 Issues in 30 Days is our election year series on the important issues facing the country this election year. Today: The necessity of borrowing to initiate and maintain essential infrastructure projects. Visit the 30 Issue home page for all the conversations.

30 Issues in 30 Days is our election year series on the important issues facing the country this election year. Today: The actual significance of the national debt and how it might play into the election. Visit the 30 Issue home page for all the conversations.

As part of the Brian Lehrer Show's 30 Issues in 30 Days series, the WNYC Data News team is designing interactive visualizations, tools and graphics to illuminate the data behind the issues. Join the full conversation on the role of long-term debt here.

Margaret Atwood, author of Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, and Jennifer Baichwal, director of the documentary "Payback," discuss the documentary film adaptation of Atwood's 2008 book of essays on debt.

(New York, NY - WNYC) A transit union says in a report that one cause of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's recent fare hikes and service cuts has been hiding in plain sight: financial arrangements called interest rate swaps. Those are deals the authority made with banks on 10 percent of its $33 billion of debt —deals that have gone against the authority and in favor of the banks.

The deals were made between 1995 and 2007, when banks agreed to cover the fluctuating interest rates on some of the authority's bonds. In exchange, the NY MTA said it would pay the banks a fixed rate, plus a small premium. That agreement would've protected the authority if rates had jumped up. But the Amalgamated Transit Union says the NY MTA has taken a net loss on the deals since the economy crashed in 2008 and interest rates fell to sustained, historic lows.

The union says the authority is now losing almost $114 million a year ― and could continue to lose money on the deals for the next 20 to 30 years.

NY MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg disputed the union's calculations, saying the swaps brought predictability to the authority's budget, which needs to be balanced each year. "To compare transactions we entered into years ago, compared to what you can get in risky variable rate debt right now is either irresponsible or deliberately misleading," he said. "They are simply wrong."

He contended that the swaps allowed the authority to save $248 million. The report says that was true until 2007, when the arrangement allowed the NY MTA to pay off its debt at nearly a full point below interest rates that were relatively high. But that was before the economy tanked. Since then, the authority has lost money on the deal.

The report looked at 12 transit agencies or local governments that entered into interest rate swaps. The report's authors insisted in a conference call that, though the deals may have made sense when they were struck, these 12 agencies ― which includes the NY MTA and NJ Transit ― are now bleeding at least a half a billion dollars a year from the budgets of governments and transit authorities around the United States.

James Parrott, an economist with the Fiscal Policy Institute, called on agencies like the NY MTA to seek concessions from the banks, many of which received massive taxpayer bailouts.

He said he doesn't understand why the NY MTA isn't treating its bankers like any other business partners. “The MTA went to all of its vendors from 2008 to 2010 and got concessions from them to reduce the price of contracts," he said. "The only business they didn’t go to is the banks. Why?”

Parrott also noted that the NY MTA is about to go to market to sell billions in new bonds to refinance its capital construction program. "They could say to the banks, ‘If you’re unwilling to renegotiate these credit swaps, we’re not so sure you’re going to get a piece of these bonds,'” he said.

Lisberg called the idea unrealistic. "We need these major banks to provide financing for us," he said. "We’re constantly in the debt markets, it’s how we and every other large government organization works. If we’re buying equipment to use over 30 years, it makes sense to pay for it over 30 years."

In 2010, the NY MTA plugged a budget gap by laying off 1,000 workers and eliminating 750 positions. It also enacted some of the deepest subway and bus service cuts in decades. Riders absorbed a 7.5 percent fare increase in 2011, and further 7.5 percent increases are scheduled in 2013 and 2015.

The banks that hold interest rates swaps with the NY MTA are JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, UBS, AIG, Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas and Ambac.

Economist columnist Philip Coggan discusses why western economies have splurged on debt in the past 40 years, and what the repercussions are. In Paper Promises: Debt, Money, and the New World Order explains the origins of the debt crisis and how it will affect the new global economy.

Margaret Atwood, author of Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, and Jennifer Baichwal, director of the documentary "Payback," discusses the new documentary film adaptation of Atwood's 2008 book of essays on debt, opening at the Film Forum in New York on Apr. 25th. 

Anya Kamenetz, senior writer for Fast Company, discusses a recent report from the NY Fed on student loans that found nearly half of loans in deferment or forbearance, and gives advice on paying off those kinds of loans. Kamenetz is the author of DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education and Generation Debt: How Our Future Was Sold Out for Student Loans, Bad Jobs, No Benefits, and Tax Cuts for Rich Geezers--And How to Fight Back.

Economist columnist Philip Coggan discusses why western economies have splurged on debt in the past 40 years, and what the repercussions are. In Paper Promises: Debt, Money, and the New World Order explains the origins of the debt crisis and how it will affect the new global economy.

As evidenced by the Congressional debt panel's failure, MF Global's $600 million missing investor funds, and lagging employment numbers, the U.S. has a long way to go in terms of solving the economic problems that created the 2008 financial crisis. And there are plenty of potential pitfalls abroad — China's inflation rate is at 10 percent, and the euro zone's ongoing debt crisis. Yet, there are bright spots with many manufacturing, energy, and tech sector jobs growing.

Jon Corzine, the former head of investment firm MF Global, told lawmakers he did not intend to break any rules and that he has no idea where $1.2 billion in missing money is during testimony before Congress on Thursday. The New Jersey Democrat became the first former U.S. Senator to be subpoenaed by Congress in more than a century. During his testimony, Corzine repeatedly apologized to investors and customers, saying he never ordered any movement of money out of clients' accounts.

European leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday for the start of a two day summit in what many are hoping will be a turning point for resolving the euro zone crisis. Expectations are high that a deal can be brokered by Germany and France to overhaul economic rules and create confidence in the beleaguered currency. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met with European officials earlier this week, a sign of American interest in reaching a resolution. But some economists and politicians are beginning to question whether, from the U.S. perspective, the euro is really worth saving.

Standard and Poor's announced on Monday that it is considering a credit rating downgrade for both Germany and France, the euro zone's two biggest economies. The move takes place as euro zone countries meet in Brussels in an attempt to stop the ongoing crisis. The two countries currently have a top-notch AAA rating from the agency. Standard and Poor's said that 13 additional euro zone countries are also vulnerable to downgrade as a result of the continent’s economic crisis.