In a last minute move, the government announced today it will rescue insurance giant American International Group, better known as AIG.

The Federal Reserve has agreed to provide $85 billion in an emergency rescue loan.

The Fed said the Treasury Department was in full support of the decision.

New York Governor David Patterson says it is imperative to keep AIG in business.

"Most important is to understand that there's a difference between Lehman Brothers failing and AIG. AIG is the world's largest industrial commercial insurance company. It operates in a hundred and thirty countries. It has 116,000 employees. It has 74 million customers. It has assets of a trillion dollars. It would so endeavor us to try to keep AIG afloat because it would have so many ancillary effect on other aspects of the markets,” said Paterson.

As part of the rescue plan, the government will seize up to 80 percent of AIG.