Posted On: November 5, 2008, 6:45 am CST

Posted By: Buckeye

Did anyone ever think that former P&C insurance giants such as USF&G, Aetna or Reliance would no longer exist? Some evolve via M&A activity and others, sadly, become insolvent. The insurance industry and general economy survived the disappearance of these companies and will certainly survive the downfall of failure of AIG.

There is still a lot of business value in AIG and private capital will be attracted in some form or fashion as a result. We may not recognize AIG in the future, but it is safe to say it will not simply disappear because capitalists will see the business value and profit from it accordingly.

There are obviously human tragedies when people lose their livelihoods. However, we have to take the bad with the good in a capitalistic economy. The bottom line is there is much more good than bad based on the plethora of opportunity in America. And there is no guarantee that the breakup of AIG would result in the loss of thousands of jobs.

Whether it is the buggy whip industry or AIG, our economy and the American citizens who compromise it are extremely resilient. We just have to let capitalism work.