Investigating AIG

Everyone seems to be all abuzz about the Mike Taibbi takedown of AIG in Rolling Stone. Its a fun read — as is any piece that begins “we’re officially, royally fucked” — but there are a few other columns that do an excellent job contextualizing 1) How AIG got so heavily involved in CDOs and CDSs, and 2) What its going to take to clean up the ginormous mess they made.

If you are interested in learning the nitty gritty details about how AIG’s Financial Product division (AIGFP as it came to be known), then the place to start reading is the 3 part series WaPo did in the fall: Investigating AIG (full linkage below).

The clean up half of the story is best described by Carol Loomis in this month’s Fortune. (She makes it pretty clear that Liddy is not the bad guy).

Get crackin’ . . .

Investigating AIG: The Washington Post
Part I: The Beautiful Machine
Part 2: A Crack in the System
Part 3: Downgrades and Downfalls

AIG’s rescue has a long way to go
Carol J. Loomis
Fortune DECEMBER 29, 2008: 10:46 AM ET
http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/23/news/companies/AIG_150bailout_Loomis.fortune/index.htm

Behind Insurer’s Crisis, Blind Eye to a Web of Risk
GRETCHEN MORGENSON
The New York Times, September 27, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/business/28melt.html
The Big Takeover
MATT TAIBBI
Rolling Stone Mar 19, 2009 12:49 PM
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/26793903/the_big_takeover

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