In the midst of stock market panic and a banking-industry meltdown, the federal government decided to rescue American International Group, Inc., Wednesday, from possible collapse, loaning the company $85 billion. The federal government now controls 80 percent of AIG, which is one of the largest insurance companies in the world. AIG insures homes, cars and complicated business transaction on a global scale. In this discussion, Margaret Warner talks with two business journalists about the government bailout and what it means for the economy and the stock market. The journalists explain how and why AIG got into serious trouble and what could have happened if AIG was allowed to go bankrupt like investment bank Lehman Brothers earlier in the week. Quotes "When the insurance company gets in trouble, the people who bought insurance from it, corporate insurance, in this case, the people who bought the insurance on the bonds find that they're not protected at all. And that's how this kind of crisis can have domino effects rippling through the financial system." - Krishna Guha, Financial Times "Well, first up, we have to say this is really scary, right? The government didn't let this company fail. It stepped in $85 billion and still the markets plunged. That tells you how intense the fear is, how intense this financial storm raging through the markets is right now." - Krishna Guha "Well, clearly the last thing (the federal government) wanted to do in an election season was come forward and say, 'Once again, we're putting taxpayer money on the line.' The issue is they went to the markets and the markets said, 'You know what? We're not going to help out AIG. There's not enough money on Wall Street now. Everybody has their own problems.'" - Diane Brady, BusinessWeek Warm Up Questions 1. What does an insurance company do? 2. What is bankruptcy? 3. What is going on in the stock market? Discussion Questions 1. What role does AIG play in the economy? Why is it important? 2. Why do you think the government will help out a company like AIG, but not a small business? Is it fair that the government saved a company that made bad bets? 3. Why do you think so many things are going wrong with the economy at once? How does the subprime mortgage problems tie into what happened to AIG? 4. Look into what happened after the stock market crash in 1929. How is the recent stock market crash similar to that situation? How is it different? Additional Resources Read the transcript Government's Rescue of AIG Fails to Calm Nervous Investors Paul Soman's Business Desk