Manav... How can you blame the poor for this crisis?
Maybe if you hadn't been born with a silver spoon in one of your orifices you would understand why those less fortunate than yourself grasped the opportunity these merciless companies presented them!! Perhaps you should join us in the real world

Stuart, Newcastle, UK

Quite right manav. The poor should know their place and not presume by buying houses. They should never have dismantled the feudal system - that way the poor were kept down where they belong. It's all the fault of education - they should never have taught ignorant people to read.

John Orford, Balingasag, Philippines

Personally I blame the poor for taking out loans they could not afford, and politicians for giving them undue aspirations and not regulating lenders (CCJs, no problem, honestly). Oh well, looks like a lot more of us will be poor soon, and aspirations - not for our generation!

manav, London, UK

Wow there are alot of very bitter people out there.
While some in the industry may well be overpaid I think its bad bad form to gloat over the misfortunes of these companies.
True it may be their greed that has got them into this situation.

Just spare a thought for their families.

Humility!

Carl, Eastbourne, UK

It seems that AIG was another company that did not understand the so called financial instruments that they were insuring.I still cannot understand how you can keep selling something that from the beginning had a fixed rate of interest i.e. income, where the higher the interest the higher the risk.

nick, Camberley, UK

To qoute a comment from a previous article: "..the difference from what's happening today and the 30's, is that instead of jumping out the window, the experts today take the elevator down and walk out the door, with a big cheque.."
Personally, I would like to see [the responsable] heads roll.

Liborius, Nice, France

The overwhelmingly obvious consequence of extreme recklessness perpetuated by millions over decades. There is, in all probability, much more to come.

James E. Petts, Burnham, England

Jamie from New York - I'm successful enough to know how to spell unsuccessful. I'm glad many people who work in the financial sector will now be forced to reconsider their careers and perhaps do something useful or interesting, rather than working ridiculous hours just for the sake of lots of money

nienke, Croydon, England

"Too big to fail", AIG definitely will receive a Federal Reserve backed bridging loan. Otherwise,a1929 style financial crash beckons tomorrow: AIG's bankruptcy would set off a spiral of bankruptcies of important financial institutions,including Morgan Stanley.

pat, Dublin, Ireland

Presumably inept management at the highest level and a complete lack of understanding about the risks being taken on the balance sheet. Do AIG deserve to be bailed out? - probably not.... let them go to the wall; lest this be a lesson against the greed that prevails in todays big corporations.

Paulo Q, Manchester, UK

when most people in london (even non bankers) see the price of their properties halved in the next year, there may not be so much celebration of lehman's distress...most people have enjoyed the propery run which was generated by these bankers, to dismiss them is ignorance

nicola, London,

Why does everyone hate bankers/insurers so much?

Not everyone in the worlds most successful profession is motivated by money - success/quality of life/making a difference... no?

What about all the small businesses we help succeed every day or pensions we underwrite?

Ian, London, UK

To those bankers shocked at the reaction you're getting. it's not just schadenfreude, it's the fact that your companies have gambled recklessly and are now dragging the rest of us down with them.
so pardon me if we're not showing any humanity, but i think we have a right to be hostile.

ashok menon, london, uk

Thank the US Congress, who in the spirit of vote-fishing DEMANDED the US mortage industry extend loans to low-income (read: uncreditworthy) individuals about a decade ago. Subprime came out of this. What we see now came out of that.

mike, Dallas, USA

Serves them right for sponsoring man u.
I look forward to seeing the running around with the name of a company that no longer exists on their shirt.

Jimmy, Liverpool,

Answer to Question 1
Yes it will be a horrendous disaster affecting everyone in a free democracy. The rest OF THE WORLD are out of it.

Answer to Question 2
Yes there is a right of set off in such a situation.

More importantly would houses sell with properties on the market by the million

Steffan Hughes, Lichfield, STAFFORDSHIRE

Oh cheer up, Daphne. Tomorrow is another day!

Jeremy Campbell Trevathan, London,

Two questions if anyone can help:

1. If a wholesale nationalisation of the banking system occurs what are the implications? ie. Does it matter to you and me?

2. If you have a mortgage and savings with the same bank and it collapses are your savings automatically offset against your mortgage?

Tom, Glasgow,

The icing on the cake made of 1/3rd greed, 1/3rd incompetence, & 1/3rd cozy deals will be that all those who made the seriously inept decision that brought these institutions to their knees will probably emerge enriched by "golden parachutes" in the millions of dollars, rather than with prison terms

EDWARD B RYDER IV, GREENLAWN, USA

I work for AIG and it really is quite sad to read these bitter comments of people that are happy about this. In reality you are likely to be sad, lonely people that have been fairly un-successful in your career, and can now take pleasure in others going through a bad run.

Jamie, New York ,

I'm appalled to see people gloating about these "rich" bankers losing out. Most of us in the industry are normal people trying to keep a roof over our families heads and pay the mortgage. 99% of us don't make in ANY bonuses and are now worried about our futures and homes. Thanks for your humanity.

Andy C, Gloucester, England

Next up time to cut down those awful private equity bosses. Truly ghastly people.

2008 is indeed the year of schadenfreude!

Enoch, London, United Kingdom

You may be surprised at how many insurance policies in the UK wil be affected as well.

The FSCS may compensate people with ongoing claims but many policies will be worthless.

IF AIG goes then there will be an almighty scramble for businesses to insure again - increasing costs.

John Wood, Hull, UK

When I was very young in the US (in the fifties), my grandfather told me that the normal return on bank savings accounts was 3% & on stocks the dividend was traditionally 6%, because of the risk. You expected a bank to make its profit by taking deposits & lending to the creditworthy. Nostaligia!

Marc Waller, Montreal, Canada

We have inflation, high interest rates, and Banks going under.
Normally if inflation is high, interest rates could bring it in check. People are not spending & because fuel & energy cost is high, its fueling inflation. The housing market is flat, nothing government can do. I see a World WAR LOOMING

daphne kenward, Cambridge, UK

Peter,
Lawyers are there... and so are you. The financial impact, not to mention 100K people out of work will wreak havok on society. I just hope you don't have any debts/negative equity yourself, and enough savings to back you if you lose your job.
You just wait for the domino effect.

nikki, London,

Until we cure this greed culture that has enveloped us, including the ordinary person in the street, we shall forever face the risk of the 'global economy' going bust. I suggest that these recent problems are the first real symptoms of the bust.

will steer, Tiverton, UK

I can see a silver lining to this cloud. New York is currently home to 100% of this country's banking and insurance sector and this centralization has bred corruption and incompetence. Hopefully, banks and insurers will move to more tax friendly states and spread this sector across the USA.

T Raman, Palatine, IL, USA

AIG was an inverted pyramid for many years. The balance sheets have been inaccurate (I would hate to say fraudulent) for many years. State Insurance Departments turned a blind eye.
Greenberg (call me Hank) should be in jail. I'm not shedding any tears,

Mike, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Delighted that this has happened to such a loveable bunch of people- bankers, insurers... oh, if only lawyers could be in there too.
If the prospective collapse of AIG wipes the smug smiles from the faces of the sanctimonious rabble at the Theatre of Greed, then even better!!!

Peter Green , Harlow, UK

I have just read in The Times that some Lehmans staff are rehoming their dogs to save costs. This sums up the selfish, greedy "I'm all right Jack" attitude that has got the economy in such a bad position.

P daniels, Lymm, UK

One cannot help feeling that the current financial earthquake is the result of human greed - the result of a credit culture, fed by obsessive consumerism. Ordinary folk have been groomed by a consumer culture that continually pressures them into keeping up with the Jones' - or even exceeding them.

Andre Menache, Perpignan, UK