New Article on AIG Implosion Raises Serious Questions

There's a new piece in Rolling Stone by Matt Taibbi (the writer who compared Goldman Sachs to a "great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity".) Taibbi here examines the alleged deceptions and other transgressions of Joe Cassano, former head of the AIG Financial Products division. AIGFP was the cause of AIG's implosion and subsequent rescue by the federal government (the actual insurance operations of AIG have always been quite profitable.) Cassano made some very optimistic statements about the financial health of AIGFP, just before the whole thing went kablooey and took down the entire company.

According to this article, there were some very serious misrepresentations made by AIG concerning the actual state of AIGFP, misrepresentations serious enough to make one question why those responsible haven't been charged with criminal wrongdoing. Take a look at the article and judge for yourself. Taibbi is a bit of a rabble-rouser when it comes to financial reporting, but the extraordinary financial crisis we've all lived through these past few years make it difficult to quibble with many of his assertions.

The article covers far more territory than just AIG, though. The article suggests that some major insider trading was protected and covered up by means of high level political interference. The article names names and gives specific instances of some rather suspicious financial activity by some very well known captains of finance.

Wasn't there a line in a movie a few years ago, "If you're going to steal, steal big"? Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the financial crisis these captains of finance created, we get record unemployment, a housing and foreclosure crisis, and states slashing funding for education. It sure feels like we've all been played for suckers.