The insurance part needs to run collaboratively across the whole country at least for the economies of scale to kick in. AIG are still a recognisable brand, and an insurance company of that scale is an incredible asset for a society to have (as are Allianz and AXA, etc...)
Also, large insurance companies are incredibly complex, and take a very long time to build up. It would be very silly to let something like that go under for short-sighted reasons.
>Also, large insurance companies are incredibly complex, and take a very long time to build up. It would be very silly to let something like that go under for short-sighted reasons.
I agree. AIG shouldn't have been so short-sighted. But since they were, they deserve to fail like every other business who doesn't adequately plan for the future.
"insurance company of that scale is an incredible asset for a society to have"
Not when it means keeping the ill-handled, tax payer killing investment company. It failed and we did a massive disservice to the tax payers by keeping it open.
Also, large insurance companies are incredibly complex, and take a very long time to build up. It would be very silly to let something like that go under for short-sighted reasons.