Insurance giant AIG gets another $30 billion dollars in U.S. taxpayer money—the company’s FOURTH bailout.
Hello, I’m Charlotte Bellis and you’re watching Newsy.com. That was video from CNN.
AIG’s latest federal bailout comes as the company announces more than $60-billion in 4th quarter losses. That’s the biggest corporate loss in American history.
The bailout just before the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell below 7,000 for the first time since 1997.
MSNBC gives perspective on the confidence crisis among investors:
“Investors really have no confidence that 3, 6 months from now the government’s not gonna put yet another several billion dollars of taxpayer’s money on the line. No one seems to have a sense of how bad things could possibly get.” (MSNBC)
MSNBC gave its take on what this federal aid means:
“It means that the problem at AIG seems like it is far from over. It also means the taxpayer is taking a lot more risk than it had thought originally and it also means the government is gonna be entangled with AIG for a lot longer than we originally thought.” (MSNBC)
AIG has already got more than $150 billion dollars in federal aid, making it the biggest government investment of all U.S. banks.
The BBC breaks down the numbers:
AIG’s total bailout-- $180 billion dollars
Citigroup-- $50 billion dollars
And Bank of America-- $45 billion
FOX News questions what standard this is setting for other ailing industries:
“So what does this mean for the car companies? I think we’re setting a dangerous precedent with regard to coming back for more, coming back for more. Now what will happen with the car corporations, what will happen with the banks?” (FOX News)
The Los Angeles Times brings us the U.S. Treasury response, outlining the need for government action:
“The additional resources will help stabilize the company, and in doing so help to stabilize the financial system…[T]he potential cost to the economy and the taxpayer of government inaction would be extremely high.” (The LA Times)
MSNBC brings an exclusive interview with AIG CEO Edward Liddy, who assures taxpayers they aren’t throwing away good money.
“We’re really protecting the policy holders. What we’re doing is keeping a difficult situation from getting worse by making sure AIG survives.” (MSNBC)
Do you think a federal bailout of AIG is necessary? What would happen if AIG collapsed?
