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Episode details

Radio 4,21 Dec 2011,45 mins

Available for over a year

Hundreds of banks rush to take up the European Central Bank's offer of low cost loans. Is it a step towards easing a potential credit crunch? or a worrying sign of how fragile the banking system is? Can Washington politicians resolve their differences to prevent a tax rise hitting 160 million US workers next month? And we hear from the Californian illegal immigrants hoping to fulfil their American dream. With Robin Lustig.

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