AIG - $186 billion bailout - $5 billion net worth per as of today.

[Call Me Wesley]

And here's 'Patient Zero,' (of course along with others) Joseph Cassano:



DER SPIEGEL's last week's main article was about AIG and how Joseph Cassano, the 'Patient Zero Of The Economical Meltdown' (a proper nickname Matt Taibbi gave him,) was one of the main players that turned your savings to pure dust.

While many of you still suffer, and the global turnaround won't come until late 2010 (and it'll be a start from scratch,) AIG got $186 billions of taxpayer money. The whole company has now a net worth of $5 billion, so the taxpayers money will never be paid back.

But you know what? Don't worry. It's not their fault, it's yours. I mean, you could have been as clever as Joseph Cassano, too and made a wage (based on a 70 hour week without holidays) of a whooping $9615 per hour.

He's still free, isn't he? He's still paid.

[fujiyama]

1. It's worth remembering

that the Apollo program cost $150 billion.

We've spent more money on AIG than on landing men on the moon. And people complain about NASA's budget.

[Call Me Wesley]

3. And don't forget that NASA always went with

the cheapest suppliers. ;)

It's beyond perverted. At least NASA went to the moon - these guys just went into their own wallets.

[abumbyanyothername]

2. AIG was not the company bailed out

It was every other financial institution on the planet that would have collapsed had AIG gone down.

They will eventually collapse anyway. It just would have been more spectacular if the government had stepped aside.

[Call Me Wesley]

4. Most of every other financial institution on the planet

got bail out money from the government. AIG got $186 billion to prevent even greater disaster.

[Rex]

5. Whatever happen to capitalism?

What a perverted form of capitalism we have.

[Call Me Wesley]

6. "Enrichez vous."

Don't care about other people, just empty their wallets and add it to yours. Buy a nice car, a yacht, a cute house. Just don't drive through the neighborhood of your 'clients,' it's not a nice sight. But hey, they did trust you, didn't they? Their loss.

I mean, how can you not trust a man like Gary Gorton who based all of his data on historical credits?

[Wednesdays]

7. K&R

:kick:

[Occam Bandage]

8. The AIG bailout/buyout wasn't intended to preserve AIG for its own sake.

It was intended to protect the world financial markets (and by extension, the world's economy) from the fallout that would have occurred if AIG had collapsed.

[Call Me Wesley]

9. Sorry I'm late to respond.

Yes, I agree, and how sad is that in the end?

AIG knew about the risk they took (and the disaster afterward) since 2005. Nothing was done, yet some were aware of it. And did nothing. That's four years ago ...