Discuss the financial crisis with NRC and Spiegel editors

During a liveblogging session NRC Handelsblad and Spiegel editors answered questions on the global financial crisis. You can read the transript below.

Governments around the world have made more than 3.1 trillion euros available in the form of bailouts and other state aid and guarantees in their efforts to stop the bleeding at the banks and financial institutions worst hit by the credit crunch. In Germany, the government approved a 500 billion euro bailout package on Friday; and in the Netherlands, The Hague has made 220 billion euros available. Will these plans be enough to halt the crisis? Are Europe and the United States heading into a recession no matter what? And how will the financial crisis affect people's everyday lives?

As part of our European partnership, NRC Handelsblad and Spiegel online hosted a liveblogging session on Wednesday October 22.

Featured guests were NRC Handelsblad financial editor Piet Depuydt, who has covered the crisis extensively in Holland. He was joined by Christian Reiermann, an economics reporter at Der Spiegel who has covered the developing crisis over the past year.

Please read the questions from readers and the answers from the editors by clicking on the "Cover it live" box that appears beneath this text.