Betrayed Employee Tells AIG to Stick It (a bit more politely)

Let's be honest for a moment. AIG has essentially become a U.S. Government asset (the term used very loosely here). Washington owns 80% of the former insurance behemoth, and the company bears little similarity to a privately owned and operated corporation.

So, naturally, Libertarians ought to be irate over the issuance of bonuses to employees of a company funded by taxpayers. However, this situation is a touch more complex. As explained by Jake Desantis, former financial products specialist at AIG, in his resignation letter earlier this week, the bonuses were promised to AIG employees, most of whom abstained from the much maligned credit default swap practice, as an incentive to stay on and help the company remain (or become again?) solvent.

Without the bonus, why else would these professionals turn down profitable job offers from other companies for their $1 annual salary at AIG? Indeed, most of the intended beneficiaries had not only anticipated these bonuses but depended on them as well.

Unfortunately, the AIG bonus debacle is just another example of the trickeration and showmanship of American politics. Attorneys general in New York and Connecticut condemned the bonuses out of ignorance, or, far more likely, desperation for political rabble rousing. The CEO of AIG, more "public servant" than businessman, showed his true colors by matching the politcians' enthusiasm for the repeal (or opressive taxation of) the bonuses.

Mr. Desantis' letter (linked to above) is passionate and remarkably, and I encourage all to read it. Sooner or later it would inevitably become apparent that government and business cannot productively coexist.