The economy of the world Follow

AMERICA'S government has bailed out over 20 ailing companies since the demise of Lehman Brothers in September. And once, it seems, is often not enough. On Monday March 2nd AIG received a handout of $30 billion, the insurer's fourth so far. For brave investors who are keen to follow the value of their stake in companies deemed too important to fail, Nasdaq has created a handy bail-out index. A wince-inducing glance at the share performance of 25 firms that have gone cap-in-hand shows a 50% loss since its the new index's inception on January 5th, double the decline of the wider S&P 500 index.