Counterparties like Goldman Sachs, knowing it could use the bankruptcy laws to force AIG to sell high quality assets to pay off its gambling debts, played them like a Vegas card sharp never losing a minute of sleep worrying that the rube might go broke.

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Borrowing figures released on Thursday showed another sharp rise in credit card lending.

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The result was a sharp rise in bankruptcies (and credit-card defaults) before the change came into effect, and an ever sharper fall thereafter.

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