Author Michael Lewis: Wall Street Bonuses are "elegant theft"

Michael Lewis, author of one of the defining books about Wall Street excess, "Liar's Poker," last night told 60 Minutes that bonuses at banks bailed out by the government are akin to "a very elegant form of theft." How does the theft work? "[The big banks] have access to a zero percent loan in virtually unlimited quantities from the Federal Reserve. You can take that money and reinvest it in Treasury bonds or government agency securities and you will get the spread and you could do it over and over. You're essentially borrowing from the government ... and taking a cut," says Lewis. There are lots of gems in this interview, where Lewis claims: "Wall Street have lost any sense of responsibility to the broader society. Yes you can make a lot of money blowing up AIG, but why do it if it will collapse the wider economy?" Lewis is referring to the transactions between Goldman and AIG. Goldman sold AIG some of the worst toxic assets, then took out a type of insurance from AIG to protect Goldman against a housing market collapse. According to Gretchen Morgensen of the New York Times, Goldman's calls on this AIG insurance helped collapse the too big to fail firm, with widespread repercussions for the global economy. Lewis has a new book called "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine," which comes out later this week. The book explains how some of Wall Street's finest managed to destroy $1.75 trillion of wealth in the subprime mortgage markets. Watch part of the interview below and read more at the 60 Minutes website.