Debt-Burdened World Leaders Love to Hate Ratings Companies
- US downgrade is just harbinger of scrutiny over swelling debts
- Ratings are ‘kind of a thankless business,’ says Johnston
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No amount of power and prosperity can stop the irritation of getting judged for your borrowing habits, as the world’s biggest economy just experienced.
The US downgrade from AAA by Fitch Ratings this week is just the most high profile episode in a new era of scrutiny over global public finances that deteriorated in the wake of the Covid pandemic.