Is It Really Better Late Than Never For S&P?

J.J. Jackson | January 14, 2012 

Debt rating agencies like S&P, Moody’s and Fitch are about a decade behind the times.  And they are desperately scrambling to catch up to save their own reputations.  I am not so certain that the old saying of “better late than never” really applies here. 

On Friday the 13th, how appropriate, S&P cut the credit ratings of nine European nations.  Both France and Austria lost their Tripple A status.  Cyprus, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia also were cut.  Italy’s two point cut gives is an anemic BBB+ rating for its debt.

But what does all this really mean?  Country’s like Italy and France have been well known to be on this road to ruin for years.  Yet only after they are suspended in mid air after jumping off the cliff does S&P feel compelled to say, “Hey, we think there might be a problem here.”?  What good are rating agencies if they are so far behind the curve that they only dare to speak up when the point of no return has been passed?

The answer to that question is a stark one – none.

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J.J. Jackson is a libertarian conservative author from Pittsburgh, PA who has been writing and promoting individual liberty since 1993 and is President of Land of the Free Studios, Inc. He is the Pittsburgh Conservative Examiner for Examiner.com. He is also the owner of The Right Things - Conservative T-shirts & Gifts. His weekly commentary along with exclusives not available anywhere else can be found at LibertyReborn.com (Digital Fingerprint: libertyreborn123456789)


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One Response to “Is It Really Better Late Than Never For S&P?”

  1. andreas on January 15th, 2012 4:47 am

    S&P are working with a political agenda. The timing of this move was pre-calculated to serve political means.

    Cyprus for example two weeks ago discovered huge natural gas reserves and earlier this week was taken in the clear from any EU sanctions due to its economy state. How comes S&P didn’t notice this? Why did S&P when called to re-evaluate the downgrade as its allowed by their own rules, refused to do so?

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