Can Coca-Cola Re-Brand Itself as an Anti-Obesity Company? | Lance Armstrong's Former Teammate on the Cyclist's Confession | Battle Brewing for Second Term on Debt Limit | A Malian in the United States Reflects on the War in His Homeland

The national borrowing limit is set at $16.4 trillion, but that limit needs to be raised in order for the Treasury Department to continue to be able to pay for what Congress has already approved. If Congress doesn't agree to the increase, the President has warned that the consequences will be "catastrophic." Meanwhile, Congressional Republicans have been threatening to demand spending cuts before agreeing to raise the debt ceiling. Joe Weisenthal, deputy editor of Business Insider, lays out the options for tackling the coming crisis.

One week into 2013, and many pundits have already released their predictions for the top stories of the new year. Some are predictable, such as the likely political fight over the debt ceiling in March, but others are unexpected, just as few anticipated that 2011 would have seen such rapid change across the Middle East and North Africa. Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, is an expert at predicting the unexpected. Today, the Eurasia Group releases its report on the top risks to watch in 2013, with a number of surprising results.

After passing the Senate 89-8, the House approved the fiscal cliff compromise negotiated by Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, concluding a battle over fiscal policy that's lasted two years. Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich has been following the deal.

The question over how and why we give gifts is central to the holiday season. What do we really value about gift giving and receiving? Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, says there are ways of measuring the value of gift giving and getting. DT Strain, a humanist minister and writer of The Houston Chronicle's The Spiritual Naturalist blog, calls for a moratorium on giving presents, asking that gifts come in the form of charity and time.

The firearm manufacturer Freedom Group produced some of the weapons used by the Washington, D.C. sniper in 2002, by James Holmes in Aurora Colorado, and by Adam Lanza in Newtown Connecticut last Friday. Who is behind this company? New York Times reporter Peter Lattman profiles the organization, and explains what the company's future might hold.

As politicians negotiate how to avoid going over the fiscal cliff, Tavis Smiley says millions of Americans who are in poverty have already gone over the cliff. According to the radio and television host, the real economic focus should be over austerity and its effect on the poor.

Actor Brian Cox says today's conversations surrounding debt and fiscal policy help him get into character for his portrayal of the Dickensian Scrooge. Cox will be playing Ebenezer Scrooge in a radio drama of the Christmas Carol tonight.

As the United States teeters on the edge of the fiscal cliff, Simon Johnson, professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, explores America's love affair with debt, our longstanding hatred of taxes, and what lessons we should take from history.

The third stop on our road to recovery is in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh officially reached pre-2007 levels for both GDP per capita and employment, and its most recent unemployment levels come in just under the national average. Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl discusses his city's road to prosperity.

Congress recently approved a law that honors Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who reportedly uncovered massive tax fraud in Russia that involved several Russian tax officials. After Magnitsky confronted those officials with his evidence, he was arrested and detained in a Moscow prison, where he died three years ago. U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, a Democrat from Maryland, is the author of the law.

How do you get from a culture that depends on aid to a culture that promotes innovation? The story of Kelvin Doe, a 16-year-old from the West African nation of Sierra Leone, offers hope. David Sengeh, a PhD student at MIT, recently arranged for Doe to visit the United States.

The US Labor Department releases its monthly employment numbers this morning. With every job lost or gained, there’s at least one economist wagging his or her finger about how the value of a college education is more and more important in today's tough job market. But Sharon Virts Mozer, the CEO of FCi Federal who has created over 1,000 jobs, believes that most employers overestimate the power of a four year degree.

There are likely many images that spring to mind when considering the "fiscal cliff," but for the dean of Columbia Business School, Glenn Hubbard, the looming austerity crisis brings back memories of summer vacations in Ogunquit, Maine: a scenic coastal walk along a narrow path on a cliff. Hubbard says there is a safe way down the rocky path to reach the beach below, but you just need to find the right way to get there. Hubbard was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush. He explains why our system was set up to create a "fiscal cliff" in the first place.

Today, the Golden Spike Company is expected to announce their plans to become the first commercial enterprise to undertake a private flight to the moon. Co-founder Doug Griffith discusses the the company's plans. 

Climate change never found its way into the 2012 presidential campaign, but college students across dozens of campuses have launched a campaign of their own. Their goal is to divest university endowments of holdings in fossil fuel companies.

A three-part investigation by our partner The New York Times may offer some unsettling news for both taxpayers and local officials who have assumed that providing attractive incentives to businesses would create jobs. Investigative reporter Louise Story explains her findings.

On Monday, Majority Leader John Boehner introduced a $2.2 trillion plan to avoid the fiscal cliff. President Obama and the Democrats are looking to cut $600 billion in spending, with $1.6 trillion in tax increases, primarily through increasing taxes on Americans earning more than $250,000 per year. Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich explains the latest on the fiscal cliff negotiations, and Diane Lim, chief economist at the Concord Coalition, analyzes the economic details.

There is a middle class emerging in Latin America — far south of the white picket fences and the syndicated episodes of "Leave It To Beaver." But who is this middle class? What do they want? And what will this group mean for the world market? Answering these questions, and more, are Christopher Sabatini, editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly, and Jamele Rigolini, senior economist at the World Bank.