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What Does It Take to Be 'Too Big to Fail?'
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What Does It Take to Be 'Too Big to Fail?'

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The Treasury Department and Federal Reserve drew the line at bailing out Lehman Brothers, but the world's biggest insurance company was another matter. We hear why AIG will be backed up with $85 billion in taxpayer money. Will the line be drawn again or will other companies turn out to be "too big to fail?" On Reporter's Notebook, the price of oil soared to $147 a barrel in July. Now it's down almost to $90. What happened? What's the relationship to the crisis on Wall Street?

Banner image: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

Reporter's Notebook

Oil Prices Falling, Fuel Prices Rising ()

commanding_heights.jpgOnly a few weeks ago, the price of oil went over $147 a barrel, amid predictions of a continuing rise. Now it's dropped down almost to $90 a barrel. Get hear the how, the why and the relationship to the overall economy from Joseph Stanislaw, independent advisor to the energy and resources practices of Deloitte. He's author of The Commanding Heights: The Battle between Government and the Marketplace That Is Reshaping the Modern World.

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Main Topic

AIG's Global Reach, What's Next? ()

world_is_curved.jpgBear Stearns was bailed out, along with Freddie and Fannie, while Lehman Brothers was allowed to fail. But with a trillion dollars in assets, American International Group turns out to be big enough to threaten the global economy, moving the Federal Reserved to agree to what the New York Times calls "the most radical intervention in private business in the central bank's history." other_peoples_money.jpgThe insurance company does business all over the world, insuring cars, houses, retirement plans and companies, along with a lot of exotic financial instruments based on risky mortgages.  Why does AIG qualify for $85 billion in American taxpayers' money?  Will unprecedented government intervention ease the private financial crisis?  Will other troubled companies be standing in line?

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