On debt, Obama team pleaded with credit rating firms before downgrade warnings – The Washington Post.
At one key moment, worried that news of a potential downgrade could wreak havoc on the markets, officials summoned four Standard & Poor’s analysts to a meeting with nearly every senior member of President Obama’s economic team at which Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner made an impassioned plea against any action raising doubts about U.S. credit.
But S&P didn’t buy the argument — and one of the two other credit rating firms,Moody’s Investor Services, has expressed concern, too.
S&P has been the most dramatic in its threats, saying Thursday night that there is a 50-50 chance of a downgrade within three months. The firm warned that a failure by Washington to raise the federal debt limit by the Aug. 2 deadline could prompt a downgrade. But S&P didn’t stop there, laying out exactly how much political leaders have to cut from the budget deficit if they want to protect the U.S. credit rating.
something about this idea that people in the financial industry, especially credit, are giving threats and mandates blatantly seriously rubs me the wrong way.
The warning from S&P is striking because it reflects the tremendous leverage that a small group of financial analysts employed by a New York company — part of McGraw-Hill — has in insisting that U.S. leaders cut trillions of dollars from the federal budget.
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On Thursday night, S&P insisted that Washington must conclude an agreement to cut the deficit by $4 trillion or face the consequences of a potential downgrade.
sad that we all know what these wankers have to say is more important than what the real people in our country have to say… gotta love living in a country of, by, and for the wealthy. have there even been genuine efforts (via polls, outreach, anything) to make space for the voices of american people in the face of this crisis?
wankers.
can we have a revolution soon? this shit really isn’t working anymore…
someone@dodgit.com
July 19, 2011
Phew. I’m glad there’s rational financial analysts out there that don’t succumb to political pressure. If you’re going to criticize them, criticize them on the technical aspects of their evaluation, not based on the fact that they’re a big business or that their employees are financially successful.
Jamie.Marie
July 20, 2011
i’m criticizing the fact that our political leaders seemingly care way more what a select group of entities have to say… and that such entities can influence politics in a variety of major ways.. way more than the people it’s supposed to represent.
someone@dodgit.com
July 20, 2011
S&P has no extraordinary legal power. They just issue rankings based on their own methodology. It so happens that their methodology is so well respected, based on its own merit, that it will have major fiscal implications for the country. Its not that political leaders care, its that lenders care.
Jamie.Marie
July 20, 2011
right. and because lenders care political leaders will care. the point is that power is concentrated within a minority.