Quote of the Day, Nationalizing AIG Edition
“No, no. Relax. We couldn’t possibly be socialists. Socialists only nationalize successful businesses.”
— John Scalzi
“No, no. Relax. We couldn’t possibly be socialists. Socialists only nationalize successful businesses.”
— John Scalzi
What is a bailout anyway but a reverse windfall profits tax – think of it as a stimulus check for the government.
Hilarious.
Is a loan the same as nationalization of a business? AIG has plenty of hard assets to secure the loan. Those assets include the “government backed” securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
“Socialists only nationalize successful businesses.”
And then promptly run them into the ground. But that’s a story for another day.
So what you’re saying, is: In Capitalist America, failure socializes you?(*)
(*)See, this is why OTB needs a moderation system, this should cost me something…
Steve Plunk:
No, not necessarily. However when you combine it with the government getting an 80% equity stake it is.
Crust, I would disagree. AIG has plenty of assets to back the loan and the government has no intention of running the business if AIG defaults. The 80% stake is only in the case of default. This is not anywhere near nationalization of a business.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were nationalizations but they always carried the implied backing of the government.
But an 80% stake in AIG doesn’t imply government backing? AIG may not have been like Freddie and Fannie last week, but it’s quite a bit closer now.