In an article about how AIG is making large payments to its top executives, the Washington Post included the statement from AIG spokesman Nicholas Ashooh, that "this is not taxpayers' money they are going to run away with." It would have been helpful to tell readers that Mr. Ashooh's statement is not true. AIG has already borrowed more than $100 billion from taxpayers. The more money that it pays to its executives in various forms, the less it will have to pay back. This is the case even if it has segregated some portion of its assets for deferred compensation since it will have to replenish this pool more quickly if it spends more of it presently. Many Post readers may wrongly believe Mr. Ashooh's claim and not realize that they are paying for AIG's generous deferred compensation packages.
--Dean Baker
