An additional $30 billion ...

Chicago Tribune: American International Group, once the world’s largest insurer, reported the biggest quarterly loss in American corporate history Monday — $61.7 billion in the final quarter of 2008. That’s sobering news for AIG’s owners: American taxpayers.

Wall Street responded with another massive sell-off, deepening the gloom and making everyone feel poorer and more anxious.

And with good reason. The federal government, which has already anted up $150 billion to save AIG, announced that it will put up to $30 billion more into the company. This is the fourth infusion of federal dollars since September.

Catastrophic bets

Last fall, the plan was that AIG would sell off parts of its business to pay back the federal money it borrowed. Most of AIG’s underlying businesses — life, property and other insurance, asset management services, etc. — were profitable and could make money in the future. They’re being sunk now by the catastrophic bets made by AIG’s financial products unit.

But the credit crisis and the deteriorating economy have made it all but impossible to sell off the company’s good assets. Would-be buyers of AIG businesses can’t get financing.

And that leaves taxpayers, who already own 80 percent of AIG due to the previous three bailouts, as the only resort.

But ... $180 billion in government aid?