This need not be long.
Larry Summers: Director, Nat'l Econ. Council. Advises the President. Yesterday on ABC's "This Week" he opined on the now infamous AIG bonuses. Summers obligingly feigned outrage, but at the end of the day said that AIG/U.S. had no choice but to pay up, blathering:
"We are a country of law. There are contracts."
Bullshit. As I also in this Comment, contracts law is civil, not criminal, law. Businesses intentionally breach contracts every day if it's in the best interest of the business to breach and, then, defend that action and/or renegotiate the terms. Every first year law student learns this.
Summers conflates criminal "Rule of Law" language with civil contract law. Is he that stupid or that mendacious? "Fraud", "unconscionability", "change of circumstances"... there are many defenses to breach of contract. Let AIG's "brightest and best" managers sue for their precious bonuses.