Moody’s “double agent” ratings: How the game is rigged

RJ Eskow:

Despite all the evidence, Moody’s is still treated as a credible player … and one that’s powerful enough to send a warning shot across the bow of the United States government. It threatened to downgrade the US government’s debt last March if more wasn’t done to reduce the government’s debt.

That’s the kind of rigged game we’re facing: One of the biggest sources of the government’s debt is the economic collapse. That collapse was enabled in large measure by the bad ratings issuing by rating franchises like Moody’s. Now Moody’s wants to hamstring the government’s ability to repair the damage it helped create. And it might. They’re that powerful, and the system is that rigged.

Related posts:

1. Where’d all this debt come from?
2. Who wins the income growth game, or, the abject failure of Reagan economics
3. Approval ratings in perspective