General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: 10 Reasons to Hate Capitalism [View all]99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)Well, most people agree that The Fed took some pretty huge risks with AIG, et. al. as indicate in this 2009 article.
Ben Bernanke is angry. If there is a single episode in the entire 18 months that has made me more angry, I cant think of one, he is quoted as saying. AIG exploited a huge gap in the regulatory system. This was a hedge fund, basically, that was attached to a large and stable insurance company, made huge numbers of irresponsible bets, took huge losses. Mildly put, the Fed Chairman is indicating that American International Group wasnt what it seemed.
Bernanke, of course, is referring to one of the central causes of the current financial crisis. AIG (and so many other financial institutions) made huge numbers of irresponsible bets that were not visible to the outside world. These risks ended up threatening the stability not only of these companies but of the entire financial system. In the case of AIG, its scale, complexity, and global reach have made the problems especially palpable.
http://blogs.hbr.org/2009/04/aig-for-dummies/