Taxpayer mop up

It’s time to start thinking about how to equitably pay the janitors mopping up American International Group’s derivatives mess. That may sound heretical given the ongoing furore over $165m of 2008 bonuses paid this month to staff at AIG Financial Products, whose massive bets on the credit default swaps market necessitated a $170bn government bailout. But here’s a naughty little fact – AIG is still contractually obliged to pay another $161m a year from now for work performed in 2009. A better de...