>The federal government has nationalized 80% of AIG! Where's the outrage?
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>Actually a lot of people are asking that. The US government is now the biggest insurer in the world. Bravo. ;-)
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>FWIW, nationalizing failing industries can yield a marvelous (capitalist) win. There are plenty examples of governments acting "for the greater good" to re-nationalize privatized assets (like transport networks or utilities) after the private owners focused on massive dividends rather than maintenance and other inconvenient expenses. I know of one nation that recently re-nationalized its rail network after a series of private owners almost destroyed its viability. Even if the price paid was too high for such a devalued asset, over time it will be seen as a brilliant investment as rising energy prices make rail more and more attractive.
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>In this case AIG is almost certainly a very good investment that will be released later for billions of extra dollars to plunge into the deficit, as well as new regulations to ensure it can't happen again. Even the shonky mortgages may not be so bad: at least some of those people will do better as soon as the crisis is over and the economy recovers and they will want to keep their homes.

See my response to Mike.