by dionysus on 2009/03/05
Yesterday in episode 1:
Ben spanks AIG in testimony before the Senate Budget Committee
Timmy spanks AIG and tells the Senate Ways and Means committee that AIG needed (but didn’t have) “adult supervision”.
Politicians piss, moan, and grumble, but our dynamic duo hold firm to their line and deal with legislators in a dignified and respectful manner.
In today’s episode: “The Destruction of Value”
AIG 4th quarter 2008 loss: $62 billion. That’s the single largest quarterly loss by any company in a single quarter in history. Nothing else even comes close.
This took AIG’s total loss for 2008 to a breathtaking $99 billion.
“Ninety Nine Billion Freakin Dollars” That’s a jaw dropping number. To put it into some horrifying perspective: the 2008 loss by AIG was around (according to the IMF) half the annual GDP of Ireland ($198 billion)and Israel ($195 billion) and greater than the annual GDP of more that 100 other sovereign states, including countries such as;
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Tagged as:
AIG,
fed
by dionysus on 2009/03/04
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke tore into insurance giant AIG in testimony before the Senate Budget Committe yesterday. “If there is a single episode in this entire 18 months that has made me more angry, I can’t think of one other than AIG, ” Bernanke told committe members. AIG “exploited a huge gap in the regulatory system.”
In a separate (yet clearly coordinated) statement Timmy also took an elephant gun and let loose a few rounds of his own in written testimony before the Ways and Means Committee; “AIG is a huge, complex, global insurance company attached to a very complicated investment bank, hedge fund that was allowed to build up without any adult supervision,”
“Adult Supervision?” WTF? It’s most unusual that a sitting Treasury Secretary uses terminology of that nature in Congressional testimony, but quite obviously AIG has ignited extreme ire at the Fed and Treasury. Small wonder considering just how much money has been pumped into this company yet still it bleeds. What must be a bitter pill to swallow is that the Fed and Treasury have to constantly inject capital into this company since it would precipitate a complete meltdown and collapse of the financial system if it were permitted to fail.
To be fair, Ben & Timmy are setting the stage for much needed oversight reform. These are the opening shots designed to soften up potential (lobbyist) opposition to upcoming proposals to regulate the financial markets more stringently – and we all hope – effectively.
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Tagged as:
AIG,
fed
