Ever since Uncle Sam tossed American International Group a life preserver after the company nearly drowned our economy in reckless credit default swaps, Congress and the consumer press have been hammering AIG for some pretty ungrateful behavior. One major newspaper went so far as to suggest that AIG really stands for “arrogance, insensitivity and gall.” Are the critics right? Unfortunately, I think so, for mistakenly thinking AIG could continue to conduct business as usual in this post-subprime world.
The AIG bashing began when some pretty tone-deaf missteps were cited following the $122 billion-plus in loans granted by the federal government to keep the parent company afloat long enough to sell assets and pay off its debt, all because of insane overexposure to subprime mortgage-based credit defaults by one of its subsidiaries.
New York Newsday, in an Oct. 20 editorial headlined “AIG Needs Attitude Fix,” blasted the company for its post-bailout actions, citing numerous examples of chutzpah.
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