Earlier this week, the inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, a.k.a the bank bailout fund, released his report on the 2008 rescue of the American International Group (AIG), the insurer. The gist of the report is that government officials made no serious attempt to extract concessions from bankers, even though these bankers received huge benefits from the rescue. And more than money was lost

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Nov. 19, 2009: "The Big Squander" by Paul Krugman