With bankers' bonus season upon us again, the political class have been on the attack. First RBS boss Stephen Hester was pressurised into handing back his £1m worth of shares; then his predecessor Fred Goodwin was relieved of his knighthood. It was populist, but was it good politics?
Joining us in the studio this week: Guardian columnist Martin Kettle, the New Statesman's Rafael Behr, and, on the line from Paris, our correspondent Angelique Chrisafis.
Also this week: David Cameron returned from Brussels with markedly less triumphalism than before. He conceeded that the signatories to the new European 'fiscal union' deal could use EU institutions to work on the plan to save the euro. His critics have been vocal - pro- and anti-EU alike.
Meanwhile in Paris, the 2012 presidential election is hotting up. Nicolas Sarkozy is trailing in the polls against a resurgent Socialist party. Their candidate François Hollande may be described by critics in the French press as a "Flanby", but he's winning over the public. A worried Sarkozy is yet to formally declare his candidacy but has enlisted the support of his German counterpart Angela Merkel. All the while, some comentators fear a run-off between the Socialists and the far-right National Front led by Marine Le Pen.
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