Bernanke to Give Testimony

Some of you may remember that in 2011, Maurice "Hank" Greenberg's corporate alter ego, Starr International., filed a lawsuit against the United states for $25 billion.

Greenberg's mug you see above. His lawsuit objected to the US seizure of 80% of the equity of AIG by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in September 2008, a condition of the bail-out of AIG.

Greenberg objects that this is an unconstitutional taking of property without due process of law: by way of the dilution of the stakes of everyone who had held equity before that.

There is a lot that might be said about that lawsuit. I won't say any of it now except for covering the one point that justifies the above headline.

Greenberg's lawyers have satisfied the trial judge that the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, is an important witness in the case and that a deposition of Bernanke is integral to the "discovery" phase of the proceedings.

A deposition of Bernanke about the events of September 2008 under sharp questioning might provce a critical document for historians, and we will all owe Greenberg some gratitude if this comes about.

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