‘Too Big to Fail’ is all about Sending the Wrong Message

Yesterday’s article about AIG (the insurance giant) being designated a systemically important financial institution (SIFI) kicked off this column, laying out my long-held and somewhat smoldering beliefs on the subject. Essentially, all this rigamarole and dancing around issues amounts to recognizing AIG for the second time as being too big to fail. The first time was a time too often—a bridge too far.

Failure is a lesson in life and we all, at one time or another, have stumbled and occasionally failed from that the effects of that stumble. That’s how, as a small businessman, I learned of my hiring failures, the pressures of bank-loans and the bare-bones fact that doing good work for my present clients was more valuable than finding new ones.

We are dangerously close to rewarding those who sell their clients down the river, preferring instead to ruthlessly acquire new ones. What message do we learn from that, supported by our government, our Supreme Court, the Department of Justice and t…