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As the stock market continues to plummet nationally and banks are teetering globally, investors are selling off their stocks faster than ever. The recession has frozen the credit market, putting many ordinary Americans in a bind – before they can qualify for a loan to build or fix a home, start or upgrade a small business, they need to raise their credit score. And, to raise their scores, they have to cut their debts. In a sign of the times, the National Debt Clock in New York has run out of digits to record the growing figure of the how much the government owes. The government’s current debt is at about 10.2 trillion dollars. The concept of debt is the topic of the new book by Margaret Atwood, the pre-eminent author of more than 35 books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, including The Handmaid’s Tale, The Blind Assassin, and others. She has won numerous literary awards including the prestigious Booker Prize. Her new non-fiction book is called “Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth.”

GUEST: Margaret Atwood, author of Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth