“until then, AIG was the life of the party. Huge profits. Strong growth. AIG was an ATM. It earned $14 billion in 2006, $10.5 billion in 2005 and $11.05 billion in 2004.”
AIG thought they would never have to actually pay off on the reinsurance they were writing, which got riskier and riskier.
AIG was targeted in 1988 by Alan Greenspan when he, in violation of the law , unilaterally told those banks 'too big to fail' that they could trade derivatives. AIG wrote a huge proportion of those contracts. The good times rolled until they didn't on Sept. 16, 2008. The Federal Reserve and the Federal Government f'ed all of us by forcing, under penalty of imprisonment, to buy 79.9% of AIG stock. Ben Bernanke sold YOUR AIG stocks in 2012 for pennies on the dollar. Goldman Sacs did most of the public fornicating of the taxpayers. Those pricks even sold short some of the SIVs that they had sold to pension funds. It must have been high times and yucks by the head of Goldman.
Never trust investment bankers. Without hesitation I say they are as evil as Obama.