By Rob Basso on
8/31/2011 10:13 AM
It’s no secret that the political theatre involved in the debt crisis has really done it this time – on Friday, August 5
th, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgraded the US from its top-notch AAA credit rating to a less-than-perfect AA+, which we share with countries such as Belgium and New Zealand. (For a reference, Japan and China are currently at AA-, Chile is at A+, Canada is at AAA, and Brazil is at BBB. Find a full listing
here.) According to S&P’s credit rating scale, “AAA” indicates an “extremely strong capacity to meet financial commitments” – it is their highest available rating. An “AA” rating indicates a “very strong capacity to meet financial commitments.” On the bright side, other credit agencies Moody’s and Fitch have indicated that they have no plans to downgrade the US credit...