Tuesday, January 08, 2013

More On AIG

Hullabaloo
...Most of AIG's executives, particularly Joe Cassano and everyone in his division, are extremely fortunate not to be languishing in prison right now. That AIG's creditors are receiving even a dime is also fortuitous.

What's most appalling about all of this is the fact that everyone is behaving as modern capitalism demands. AIG "innovated" financial products to meet shareholder expectations of quarterly products as the market demanded. When those products went belly up, the government couldn't let AIG go bankrupt without destroying the entire economy. With AIG back on its feet due entirely to government largesse, the faceless, soulless corporation is once again doing its job in attempting to maximize value to its shareholders.

Everything is working exactly as the system is designed to, actually. And it will keep working this way until we overthrow it in favor of a new system that doesn't prioritize short-term profit over long-term stability, corporate persons over real persons, and shareholder return over wage growth.

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