Presented by Gavin Esler
Right across Europe austerity is a la mode - in Britain where the government is set to take the axe to public spending in this month's emergency budget, in Germany where public spending has already been hit, and in the south, scene of wage cuts and demonstrations.
But what happened to the strategy of fiscal stimulus that was de rigueur before?
Tonight, our Economics editor Paul Mason reports on how much of the world's economic recovery is surviving on fiscal stimulus, and what happens when you turn it off - will we as some fear fall into a double dip?
When David Cameron became prime minister, Barack Obama was the first world leader to call to congratulate him, but now tensions over the damage wrought by the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico are taking their toll on the special relationship.
UK politicians have complained about anti-British rhetoric in US comments about the disaster - particularly the use by Obama and others of the name British Petroleum - which the company dropped in favour of BP 12 years ago.
Tonight, in the studio we will be discussing the state of the special relationship and where it goes from here.
Universities Minister David Willetts said today that England's university system is on "shaky financial foundations" and needs a radical overhaul.
But should higher education be the focus of cuts on education spending, or should it be services for pre-schoolers which are trimmed?
Britain spent £5bn on pre-school services in 2007-08.
But according to a report from the Office for National Statistics, details of which emerged this week, teaching for toddlers shows no improvement over informal learning by age five.
And with just one day to go till the start of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Lyse Doucet convenes four of the Elders, the independent group of eminent global leaders who together highlight what they see as the most pressing issues that the world must address, to ask them what the games can really deliver for the continent.
Find out what Desmond Tutu, Graca Machel, Kofi Annan and Ladkhar Brahimi think at 10.30pm on BBC Two.
BBC Daily E-mail