Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. government may step in to rescue Citigroup Inc. after a crisis in confidence erased half the bank’s stock-market value in three days, according to investors and analysts.

This is as good a time as any to remember that a few years ago Citi was the largest bank, not only in America but the world; and that the First National City Bank, successor to Nicholas Biddle’s Bank of the United States, was for many decades one of the most secure and well-managed corporations in the world.

The trouble began only when John Reed acceded to Sandy Weill’s merger plans ten years ago (and the SEC gave approval). Sandy Weill was basically just another Icahn or Boesky, an egotistical corporate raider who bought up long-established companies (e.g. Salomon Brothers, Travelers Insurance), gutted them for their hard assets and goodwill, and used the proceeds to buy a new venture to add to his towering monument to himself.

Before calling on Federal funds, Weill’s assets should all be attached. That would be fitting and moral, but there doesn’t seem to be any legal way to manage it…

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