I'll update with reactions in a few minutes ...
6:27pm PST: At Doug Ross, "He's Historic, Alright: Standard & Poor's Downgrades US Debt to AA+." And a Memeorandum thread.
6:51pm PST: An analysis at Wall Street Journal, "S&P Downgrades U.S. Credit Rating":
WASHINGTON—A cornerstone of the global financial system was shaken Friday when officials at ratings firm Standard & Poor's said U.S. Treasury debt no longer deserved to be considered among the safest investments in the world.Liechtenstein! I don't believe it!
S&P removed for the first time the triple-A rating the U.S. has held for 70 years, saying the budget deal recently brokered in Washington didn't do enough to address the gloomy long-term picture for America's finances. It downgraded U.S. debt to AA+, a score that ranks below Liechtenstein and on par with Belgium and New Zealand.
The unprecedented move came after several hours of high-stakes drama. It began in the morning, when word leaked that a downgrade was imminent and stocks tumbled sharply. Around 1:30 p.m., S&P officials notified the Treasury Department they planned to downgrade U.S. debt, and presented the government with their findings. But Treasury officials noticed a $2 trillion error in S&P's math that delayed an announcement for several hours. S&P officials decided to move ahead anyway, and after 8 p.m. they made their downgrade official.
8:12pm PST: At Zero Hedge, "S&P Downgrades US To AA+, Outlook Negative - Full Text."
1 comments:
I note that the 3 Ds are out in full force this morning trying every way possible to shift responsibility for the downgrade by S&P to anyone other than Obama and the Dems. The attempt is so callow that one can smell the desperation.
Anyone who has a small bit of knowledge had to know this was coming despite any deal made on the debt ceiling. One just cannot keep spending and printing money before something happens to one's credit rating.
I am still amazed that people who know that they could not get away with doing what the federal government is doing and prosper seem to believe that governments can without the bill coming due. The only real difference is that governments can put off the day of reckoning. Have they not looked around the world to see what is happening to those governments who spend beyond their means?
GOD help us if we lose "Reserve Currency" status, which will mean that we can no longer print money to hide the damage the government is doing to everyone of us.Money has to be backed by something and have a value to be a "medium of exchange." Have people become so enamored by a free ride that they cannot see that the the precipice is about to be reached as in the Latin meaning of the word?
Post a Comment