The toxic trio

摘要

Forget the banks and the carmakers. The biggest bets that American taxpayers have made are on three less famous firms: American International Group (aig), an insurer, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two mortgage-finance agencies. The state now owns about $170 billion of shares in banks. It has so far invested over $160 billion of equity in the toxic trio, and this number is likely to rise towards $300 billion.