Taxi drivers have always been rated informally and occasionally fired for egregious behavior, but the Uber app puts the trigger for rating your driver right next to your statement of how much you have just paid for the pleasure of their service.
The AIG mess, then, is the result of denial about the level of risk, arrogance that the triple A credit rating is an absolute safety belt, greed about compensation that leads to reckless behavior and overall, a level of irrationality that approached insanity.