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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.

How do you compare the wealth of nations? An economics professor at Princeton University thinks such a big question has a bite-sized answer: buy a Big Mac. Orley Ashenfelter is the author of the Big Mac Index, which measures a country's wealth based on a McDonalds worker's average wage and the cost of a Big Mac.

Nobel Prize–winning economist Paul Krugman looks at the economic slump and discusses ways he thinks we can lift ourselves out of it. In End This Depression Now! he argues that a quick, strong recovery is possible if our leaders can find the "intellectual clarity and political will" to restore the economy.

Michael Sandel explains how, in recent decades, market values have taken over almost every aspect of life—medicine, education, government, law, art, sports, even family life and personal relations. He argues that our market economy has changed our society. His book What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets, he examines how this shift happened and looks at the proper role of markets in a democratic society.

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments for and against the constitutionality of SB 1070, Arizona's controversial immigration law. The case and the Court's decision are sure to play a roll in this year's elections. Mitt Romney has all but wrapped up the GOP nomination. But with five primaries in Romney-friendly territory in the Northeast, why is the presumptive nominee still campaigning so hard in primary states? And panic returns to the Eurozone, with renewed fear over Spain and Italy. This weekend's first round of presidential elections in France only further clouds the Eurozone's future. To talk about these issues and more, we're joined by Takeaway and WNYC Economics Editor Charlie Herman, and Molly Ball, Staff Writer for The Atlantic.

Michael Moran, Editor-in-Chief of Renaissance Insight and author of Slate's blog "The Reckoning," explores the variety of forces converging to challenge U.S. leadership—including information technologies, the growing prosperity of countries like China, India, Brazil, and Turkey, and the diminished importance of Wall Street in the face of global markets. His book The Reckoning: Debt, Democracy, and the Future of American Power, looks at the serious consequences this shift will have for the wider world.

Joseph Leahy, Brazil bureau chief for the Financial Times, talks about Brazil's economy, its rising global profile, and President Dilma Rousseff and her recent visit to the United States. We’ll also look at preparations for both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 summer Olympics.

Michael Lind describes how a weak collection of former British colonies became an industrial, financial, and military colossus. His book Land of Promise demonstrates how Americans, since the earliest days of the republic, have reinvented the American economy—and have the power to do so again.

Ruchir Sharma, head of emerging markets at Morgan Stanley Investment Management and a longtime columnist for Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, and the Economic Times of India, looks at emerging markets and how they affect the West. His book Breakout Nations: In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles he identifies which are most likely to leap ahead and why.

Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen struck a nerve — and rekindled a familiar debate — when she criticized Ann Romney in a CNN appearance earlier this week. Jennifer DeJournett, president and co-founder of VOICES of Conservative Women, says Rosen was right to apologize to Romney. Judith Warner, author of "Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety" says Rosen's comments are being blown out of proportion. The debate over whether motherhood is "work" is an old one — but a persistent one. Why does it still hit such a nerve?

Quinoa has become an incredibly popular food in recent years, with prices for the whole grain tripling in the last five years. On today’s Underreported, Time writer Jean Friedman-Rudovksy talks about how the exploding market for quinoa has also created problems, including land disputes in Bolivia and environmental issues.

In Time to Start Thinking: America in the Age of Descent, Edward Luce argues that America is sliding into an economic and geopolitical free fall. Luce is Financial Time's chief U.S. columnist and former speechwriter for Larry Summers, who served as treasury secretary during the Clinton administration.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is now in the Supreme Court's hands, but it seems that the health care reforms then-Governor Mitt Romney implemented in Massachusetts will continue to haunt the GOP contender for the remainder of the campaign. MIT economist Jonathan Gruber joins us to discuss the economics of health care reform, in Massachusetts and on the national level. Professor Gruber also penned a graphic novel on the subject, titled "Health Care Reform: What It Is, Why It's Necessary, How It Works."

Michael Klare discusses an unprecedented crisis of resource depletion facing the world. He argues that the problem that goes beyond “peak oil” to include shortages of coal and uranium, copper and lithium, water and arable land, and that the hunt for resources has led to exploration in areas once considered too remote or dangerous. In The Race for What’s Left: The Global Scramble for the World’s Last Resources Klare examines the consequences and argues that we must change our consumption patterns.

Akash Kapur, the child of an Indian father and an American mother, spent his formative years in India and his young adulthood in the United States. He talks about moving to India permanently in 2003 to watch the country’s growth and modernization first-hand. In his new book, India Becoming: A Portrait of Life in Modern India, he describes the complex and often contradictory country that he found.

Maggie Anderson talks about her family’s yearlong experiment to buy only from black-owned businesses, a decision she made because she says most African Americans live in economically starved neighborhoods, black wealth is about one tenth of white wealth, and black businesses lag behind businesses of all other racial groups in every measure of success. In Our Black Year: One Family’s Quest to Buy Black in America’s Racially Divided Economy, she draws on economic research and social history as well as her personal story.

This week's Please Explain is the final installment of our series How to Save the World. Jeffrey Sachs discusses whether it's possible to achieve world peace. He's Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University and Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. His most recent book is The Price of Civilization.

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.

Cecilia Rouse, professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University and recent member of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, talks about President Obama's call to legally require students to stay in school until graduation or turning 18.

Even before the devastating 2010 earthquake, Haiti was known for its poverty and corruption. Laurent Dubois discusses the maligned and misunderstood nation that has long been blamed by many for its own wretchedness. In Haiti: The Aftershock of History, he shows that Haiti's troubles can only be understood by examining its complex past.