AIG is back at the trough: "So AIG presumably hopes that the Fed will gamble that the generally inattentive public at large will think this latest move resembles other bank rescue activities and therefore will not make angry calls to Congressmen." As Yves Smith notes AIGs woes are its own making as, unlike the Banks, the federal government has no oversight through regulation of AIG.
The
NYT has an op-ed that is an 'I Quit' letter. The letter makes it sound like Jake DeSantis has unfairly had his salary taken in a populist backlash when he had nothing to do with the Credit Default Swaps that made AIG bankrupt and dependent on taxpayer support to remain solvent.
And there is the rub. If AIG had been allowed to fail, collapse and become bankrupt; such that it ceased trading as a solvent financial entity then Jake DeSantis would have no bonus either. It is only due to taxpayer largesse that he has a job in a company that is alive. As part of the taxpayer takeover, employment contracts such as DeSantis' should have been rewritten to remove all bonus compensation.
Secondly, I do pretty well for myself, but I could not survive on a $1 salary like DeSantis does. His experience is not the average or the normal working experience. So while the letter is supposed to evoke in me the feeling that it is all unfair, I do not have empathy.
AIG is a failed company. It should not exist, and would not exist as a trading corporation other than the rest of the country is bailing it - and Goldman Sachs - out. AIG should have gone through a Schumpeteristic creative destruction and consequently died economically. DeSantis should be thankful he is getting even $1 out of AIG.
More:
Matt Tiabi replies to the letter in blunt language.
More II: Letters to the Editor
in reply to the I Quit letter. A noteworthy comment:
A.I.G. is not our economic problem. It is a symbol, as Mr. DeSantis now is a symbol. While most Americans dread unemployment, his ability to choose unemployment freely seems perverse.
There are few in that boat.
Most Popular on South Sea Republic
The articles that have been viewed the most:
Most Popular Restaurants in Phoenix
Phoenix Eats Out is the restaurant review site for
Phoenix,
Scottsdale and
Old Town Scottsdale which lists the modernist and contemporary restaurants, taverns and bars in the greater Phoenix area.
This is the list of the most popular restaurants pages from phoenixeatsout.com that have been viewed the most;
My personal favourite restaurants in Phoenix are
AZ88,
Postinos,
Bomberos with
Grazie,
Humble Pie,
Orange Table,
The Vig,
Fez and others coming close behind. View the complete list with the photo-journalistic style images on
phoenixeatsout.com
Most Popular Hikes in Arizona
Arizona is an outdoor state and has lots of hiking in the city and around the state. Phoenix is unusual for most cities in having several large mountains in the center of the city with great hiking. Anyone who comes to Phoenix has to do the
Echo Canyon trail on Camelback and the
Summit Hike on Squaw Peak or Piesta Peak. The views of the city, suburbs and surrounding mountains are wonderful from Camelback and Piesta Peak.
For more experienced hikers there is the McDowell Mountains in North Scottsdale that has several difficult and strenuous hikes in
Tom's Thumb and
Bell Pass. Alternatively, you can hike the highest mountain in Arizona. At 12,600 feet
Humphrey's Peak is a long and difficult hike.
Alternate Australian Constitutions
Between 2004 and 2009 this site,
southsearepublic.org, was a constitutional blog based on scoop which focused on Australian and global constitutional issues.
One of the strongest aspects of it was the development of constitutions by those involved in the blog. These constitutions are the outcome:
The constitutions were built using principles from Montesquieu's separation of powers, the enlightnment's universal political rights and the ancient Athenian technology of sortition and choice by lot.
Archives For South Sea Republic
South Sea Republic started in 2004 as an Australian constitutional blog in 2004 based on scoop software. It was an immigrative outgrowth of Kuro5hin. The archives for each year since then;
The articles are ordered by views.
Who Is Cam Riley
I am an Australian living in the United States as a permanent resident.
I am a software developer by trade and mostly work in Java and jump between middleware and front end.
I originally worked in the New York area of the United States in telecommunications before moving to Washington DC and
working in a mix of telecommunications, energy and ITS. I started my own software company before heading out to
Arizona and working with Shutterfly. Since then I have joined a startup in the Phoenix area and am thoroughly enjoying myself.
I do a lot of photography which I post on this website, but also on flickr. I have a photo-journalistic website which lists
the modernist and contemporary restaurants in phoenix. I have a site on the
Australian Flying Corps [AFC] which has been around since the 1990s and which I unfortunately
lost the .org URL to during a life event; however, it is under the
www.australianflyingcorps.com URL now.
The AFC website has gone through several iterations since the 90s and the two most recent are
Australian Flying Corps Archives(2004-2002) and
Australian Flying Corps Archives(2002-1999) which are good places to start.
Websites Worth Reading
Websites of friends, colleagues and of interest;
