S&P downgrades U.S. debt
August 5, 2011 8:37 PM
(CBS/AP)
WASHINGTON - Credit rating agency S&P downgrades US debt from AAA, making it the first debt downgrade in U.S. history.
Ratings agencies Moody's and Fitch both maintained the U.S.'s AAA credit rating following the debt deal.
CNN and ABC News reported Friday evening that S&P alerted the White House to a possible downgrade. CNNreported that its source said S&P was reconsidering its downgrade position after the administration challenged S&P's analysis of the government's finances, citing mathematical errors found by the Treasury Department.
Moody's, Fitch and S&P are the three main ratings agencies that rate debt that is issued by governments and corporations. The triple-A rating is the highest available and signifies an extremely low likelihood of default. All three agencies had issued warnings in recent weeks that the U.S. credit rating was in danger of a downgrade.
Critics say the agencies have an outsized impact on U.S. economic policy and point to the firms' failure to correctly assess risk before and during the 2008 financial crisis.
.................................ADDITIONAL:
The U.S. is downgraded. Now what?
By Dyan Matthews
Math Error Fuels Fight Over Rating
AUGUST 5, 2011, 8:50 P.M. ET
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3 comments:
They'll be overjoyed as long as they can shift the blame to Obama. Since the TeaParty Terrorists are more than willing to sacrifice the country's economy in order to make their political opponents look bad, and too many voters are sheep, we're in for a long, bumpy ride.
Guess Who is reading us again...
Larry_Phill
I hope the !@#$%^&*()! Democrats are happy!!!
4 Likes
Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/08/05/1751274/standard-poors-downgrades-us-credit.html#disqus_thread#ixzz1UDXJ4T00
It never quit reading us.
It is obsessed with us.
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