Of Bailouts And Bonuses: Scrutinizing AIG Spending

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gretchen Morgenson discusses the latest news in bailouts and banking — including the recent revelation that insurance giant AIG plans to pay $450 million in executive bonuses to the employees who work in the unit that crippled the company and contributed to its $40.5 billion loss.

AIG's spending habits and the identity the other companies it transacts with — also known as its counterparties — have been are under particular scrutiny since the company received $175 billion in taxpayer guarantees as part of the federal bailout.

In her Mar. 14 New York Times article, "At A.I.G., Good Luck Following the Money," Morgenson hypothesized why AIG's actions have angered so many, writing: "Even as investors, employees, communities and taxpayers have been battered by the crippled financial system, A.I.G.'s counterparties were saved from losses on deals they struck with the insurer."

Morgenson is an assistant business and financial editor and columnist for The New York Times, the author of Forbes Great Minds Of Business and the co-author of The Woman's Guide To The Stock Market.