News!

Is it supposed to be news that Geithner talked to Goldman and JPMorgan on the day of the AIG bailout? First of all, we already knew that. Second of all, of course he did. Geithner had asked Goldman and JPMorgan to try to raise private capital for AIG, or, alternatively, to set up a $75bn syndicated lending facility for AIG. When they reported back to Geithner and told him neither could be done, Geithner decided the Fed had to step in. It would’ve been very strange if he’d asked Goldman and JPMorgan to try to raise private capital for AIG and then not talked to them before committing taxpayer resources.

Not surprisingly, one of the reporters on this story is Bloomberg’s Chief Hyperbolist, Hugh Son. Someone really needs to stick an editor on that guy. It’s getting embarrassing to watch.