On air: Does the G20 have the answers and the actions?

In London they gave the IMF more money, now in Pittsburgh they’re giving more countries an influence over what it does. Add to that the confirmation that the G20 will replace the G8 as the lead body co-ordinating the world economy and that power shift we talked about on Wednesday seems to underway.

Are you happy with the way your country is handling the recession?

Japan is the latest country to have come out of recession with reports of the economy growing by 0.9 % in the April to June quarter. It follows news from France and Germany last week each witnessing a growth of 0.3 % of their economy in the April to June quarter.

On Air: Would you take a pay cut for the greater good?

Senators in the US have blocked a bailout deal for the car industry – they say workers need to cut their wages.

If your job was on the line, what would you do?

What should Obama’s top policy priority be?

There’s no change in the topic you all want to talk about – it’s Obama, Obama, Obama. Your reaction over the past two days to Barack Obama’s election victory has been incredible (our phone system is definitely looking forward to a break over the weekend). You’ve talked about the historical significance of his victory, whether he’s given you new hope in your life, and whether this election has changed the way you see the US.

Today we’re going to get down to the nuts and bolts – when Barack Obama moves into the White House on January 20th, what should be top of his to-do list?

Keeping your head above the gloom?

Things have been looking pretty grim on the US economic front of late: a string of bank failures and mergers, jitters on Wall St, and even the President predicting possible financial panic there if Congress doesn’t act immediately to ease the crisis. Stories of foreclosures and job losses have been filling the press. And of course, what affects the US is likely to affect the rest of the global economy. Is the bad news swamping you? Or have you got ways of staying positive in the face of the onslaught? If so, what are your tips to see the silver lining in every cloud?

Talking Points 25th September

Are we losing the chance for peace in the middle east? Today 21 Aid agencies working in the region have accused the Middle-East quartet (Russia, the US, the EU and the UN) of fundamentally failing in its mission.

What’s the best one liner you’ve ever heard?

This Chap from the US state of Indiana with his brilliant take on the handling of the credit crisis got us to thinking what’s the funniest one liner you’ve ever heard…Click and have a listen…..”it’s got more shades of wrong than a brand new bruise”. Put a smile on our faces here at the World Today. Can you do better?

Will it get worse before it gets better?

Hello from Newshour. It’s been a rotten week for the financial markets – above all in the US and the UK. It began with the US investment bank Bear Stearns getting itself into such trouble that it was sold for a song to JP Morgan Chase.

Pakistan votes

Good morning from London, the big international news today is the people of Pakistan voting in a crucial parliamentary election overshadowed by violence and fears of fraud. If the count goes as usual, initial results should be announced about the time we are on air, with a good idea of the final results beginning to come in around 2200 gmt. Should we talk about the elections or wait until tomorrow when we’ll have a better idea of what has happened?

Here in the UK the top story is the nationalisation of Northern Rock. The bank’s troubles are tied to the subprime lending problems in the US and the global economic downturn, which we discussed last month, but could they herald a geopolitical sea change in the world economy, as Martin Jacques argues in The Guardian, that will be more fundamental than that brought by the oil shocks of the 1970s?

It’s the economy…

As you will have read here today the World Service is exploring the issues thrown up the volatility in the world’s markets this week. We are, of course, joining in.