Reply #27: remember that in '08 [View All]

[TheWebHead]

and leading up to it, S&P and the other ratings agencies went out of their way to protect political and corporate interests. It was resisting the downgrade that created the original bubble with the financial sector, not that they were too quick to lower their ratings. In the case of government debt, S&P acknowledging the obvious in relation to the unsustainability of our debt was for them a risky move because their status as a quasi regulator being determined by the fed.

In many ways this mirrors the investment banks who had buy ratings on stocks during the internet bubble when there was no logic in valuations for companies that were making no money. Those willing to put their neck out and issue the sell call when everyone else is doing the standard "buy buy buy" deserves some credit.