Little noticed here was the Sunday report in the NYT of how Treasury Secretary Paulson's bailout of AIG is connected to his former firm Goldman Sachs. Turns out that the failure of AIG would have cost Sachs $20 billion.
But following a meeting between Paulson and Goldman Sach's CEO Lloyd Blankfein, AIG was saved.
Chris Martenson notes:
1. Only one Wall Street executive was in the war room, and he was from Goldman Sachs (GS), the firm Paulson headed up before becoming Treasury Secretary.
2. Lehman, with whom GS did not have an overly large trading position, was allowed to go under.
3. AIG, with whom GS did have a large position, was handed an $85 billion handout.
That was sure convenient!
Some kind of bailout is probably needed. But it should have real oversight, true CEO caps on CURRENT CEO contracts, and a funding mechanism like a stock transaction fee.