http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-17/aig-s-miller-says-occupy-wall-street-has-simplistic-view-.htmlNov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- American International Group Inc. Chairman Steve Miller, who joined the bailed-out insurer’s board in 2009, said Occupy Wall Street protesters have a “simplistic view” of the economy and government rescues of financial firms.
“The understanding of the Occupy Wall Street crowd of what makes our country work is probably fairly limited,” Miller told Betty Liu today on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop.” “It’s a very simplistic view of things. No one will ever know what would have happened to our country and our whole global financial system if AIG had been allowed just to go down.”
New York City police swept into Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan yesterday to remove demonstrators who had been camping there for more than eight weeks to protest income inequality. The group inspired similar actions in cities including Oakland, California; Portland, Oregon; London and Melbourne.
AIG, whose main executive office is about five blocks from Zuccotti Park, was first rescued in September 2008 after bets tied to the housing market soured. The New York-based insurer’s bailout was revised at least four times, swelling to $182.3 billion. The U.S. Treasury Department owns a majority of the company’s shares.