I saw the writer of this article on the Daily Show so I checked it out. It's easy to understand even to those that don't have a good knowledge of the markets or economics in general.

You'll gain a good understanding of what AIG did to put themselves in such bad shape and why the government keeps bailing them out.

And for you conservatives out there that think I'm just posting this to make liberals look smart and conservatives look bad...it has nothing to do with politics.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/business/28nocera.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=joe%20nocera&st=Search