What he said. I'm guessing hundreds of institutions, the world over, collapse of which would cause serious social instability (to put it mildly).

They're going to fail anyway.

But why not do as much damage as we can? Hell with it, just hand the treasury over to these bastards, so they can take bonuses and buy jets.

Oh, wait, we already did that.

The Flaw in the System: The Bankers Don't Care About the Banks
I stated before, the rich never cared about the little guy, but now they don't care about America, either. The money, only the money... the way to get their attention is take away the money.

And maybe 100 lashes.

Well, so much for unregulated capitalism. And a big thanks to both parties for making this possible.

I knew one of the guys at work was insured by AIG (house), so I asked him if he is still with them. He said yes but they changed their name to 21st Century Insurance. I don't know if they are ashamed of the AIG name, have been spun off, or what.

Can it get any worse with these guys? Really.

"...On Monday, we the taxpayers, through our Treasury Department, committed to further AIG restructuring by injecting $30 billion and taking an approximate 78% stake in the company. Perhaps the company and its officers and employees should be thankful.

Instead, on Friday, AIG sued the United States for over $330 million in a tax dispute with the Internal Revenue Service. Really... I don't make this up. It is case number 1:09 CV 01871 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York filed by the law firm of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP...." http://businessinsure.about.com/b/20...nd-sues-us.htm

And then there's this. Can you say HYPOCRISY? This guy ought to rot in prison. Seriously.

"Former American International Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Maurice “Hank” Greenberg accused the insurer in a lawsuit of securities fraud after it reported the biggest loss by a publicly traded U.S. firm.

Greenberg sued yesterday in federal court in Manhattan, saying the company’s “material misrepresentations and omissions” caused him to acquire New York-based AIG shares in his deferred compensation profit-participation plan at an “artificially inflated price.”

The complaint came on the same day that AIG CEO Edward Liddy told Bloomberg News that Greenberg was at the helm during the formation of AIG’s financial products unit, which sold derivatives that cost the company more than $30 billion in writedowns and prompted a government rescue. After reporting its fourth-quarter loss widened to $61.7 billion, AIG announced it reached an agreement to restructure its federal bailout..."
get the full story here: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...fqQ&refer=home

Yes, they should nationalize some of the banks, and they should definitely nationalize this piece of crap. Either that, or STOP GIVING THEM MONEY! I don't mind the stimulus money, and I think we should be doing more there, but I'm sick to death of hearing about these pricks doing this crap. Just investigate them already and throw their asses in jail. That's where they should be.

Oh, and while we're at it, let's look at Countrywide. A lot of people like to blame Freddie and Fannie, but the subprime mortgages started with Countrywide and companies like that. Now they're cashing in on their mistakes. Really, can it get any worse?
http://www.startribune.com/business/...D3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

What's that about Larry Summers? You got a link where I can read about it?

I have to agree with this. Though there are other factors beyond pack mentality at work in creating perverse responses. There are also conflicting loyalties/interests at work. Often it's a matter of balancing those conflicts in whichever manner feels most comfortable, or possible at the time. For instance, gender and class often offer competing political claims for an individual to take account of. Personal (or class) financial health may compete with national financial health. Many people have conflicting ideals when it comes to social and economic policies.

If social and economic policies were more fair and equal, then maybe they wouldn't have to choose between what's good for them and what's good for society.

Put it up for auction - sell of the valuable worthwhile pieces and scrap the rest. Thats the reality of whats going to happen eventually anyway. Do it now. Rip off the band-aid, its a terminal patient.

Simple solution: Quit bailing out failing companies. Strong companies with good management survive while weak companies perish. There will be more pain in the long run by pumping money into failing companies than just letting them go into bankruptcy.

What is unfair and unequal and what changes would you propose?

I completely agree with that.

The system we have now is unfair to the majority of the people and works in favor of the top few. I have said all of this before, but here goes again...

*When someone who owns a sports team can get a new stadium built with money supplied by taxpayers, and then gets to keep all the profits, that is unfair to everyone but the owner of the team, and perhaps the athletes, who get giant salaries. Why should anyone have to pay for that, other than the people who profit from it? The owners are rich. They should pay for it themselves.
*When a large corporation like WalMart can get away with not paying for health insurance for their workers, and they end up on medicaid subsidized with taxpayers money, that isn't fair. WalMart is one of the richest, most successful corporations ever. The owners/executives of WalMart are extremely rich. Why should taxpayers be burdened with that?
*When pharmaceutical companies can charge as much as they do in THIS country (but not in any other country), but their R&D is subsidized with taxpayer money, that isn't fair.
*When rich people who have millions or billions of dollars can get away paying less than someone who makes 30k/year, that isn't fair.
*When taxpayers end up having to bail out corporations because they have been mismanaged, but the people who mismanaged them get big bonuses and bloated salaries, that isn't fair.
*When hundreds of people get laid off from work while the people at the top get bonuses and giant salaries, that isn't fair.

What would I do? Well, I'm not sure exactly how to change it, but I would try to enact policies that didn't allow any of that stuff to happen. We need to do something to curtail the greed and corruption. It's obscene, the way this crap happens, and people just put up with it. We are like blind sheep in this country going over a cliff. It's maddening.

What drives innovation? What gives people the desire to achieve, to overcome to bust their asses for 80- 100 hours a week and take all the risks needed to be successful?
Greed seems like the simplest answer to me. Can we somehow control that while not stifling it? THAT, I believe, is the challenge faced. Especially with so much global competition.

If by "successful" you mean having lots of stuff, then it's advertising.

Oh, and a small-ish penis.