What happens if US debt is Downgrade?

Flopper

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Mar 23, 2010
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The political stalemate in the nation's capital over the federal debt and budget deficits is increasing the chances of what seemed highly unlikely until very recently: that ratings agencies could downgrade the creditworthiness of the U.S. government.

If this happens, it will send shock waves across the U.S. economy that will hit consumers and businesses, both struggling through a weak economic recovery.

The debt ceiling debate already is weighing on the economy. Here's a closer look at what a ratings downgrade would mean:

Q: What is a downgrade exactly?

A: When the United States issues government bonds, they're assigned a credit rating that reflects the risk of default on that debt instrument. Many pension funds and average investors are required to buy AAA-rated Treasury bonds because they're considered the safest.

Ratings agencies have warned that if they determine that whatever Congress does fails to improve the national debt outlook sufficiently, they may change the U.S. debt rating to AA or lower. That would mean the United States no longer is viewed as the safest of bets; investors instead would look to Germany, France, Great Britain and Canada as safer.

Q: Why could there be a ratings downgrade even if the debt ceiling is raised?

A: Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's, when putting U.S. bonds on a credit watch in mid-July for a possible downgrade within 90 days, said they feared that the political stalemate could lead to a solution that didn't significantly alter the course of the mounting U.S. debt. Right now, those fears seem warranted.

Only an agreement that cuts at least $4 trillion over 10 years from the projected rate of debt growth would be seen as "significant."

Q: If we're seen as a weaker bet than France, why does that matter?

A: For starters, the U.S. government would have to pay a higher interest rate to investors in its bonds, which would be viewed as a riskier asset. Since the United States already borrows to pay the bills it owes, that's the equivalent of having your personal credit rating fall and the interest rate on your credit card go up. Even if you borrow less, the rising cost will make reducing your debt harder. You enter a debt trap.

Q: OK, but that's the government. How would the private sector get hurt?

A: When Standard & Poor's put the U.S. government's credit rating on a negative watch list on July 14, it also put several insurers, financial clearinghouses, hedge funds and securities depositories on the list. That shows damage already has been done. Also on the list are AAA-rated securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, since these housing-finance giants are now in government hands after being taken over by the Bush administration.

Q: That's mostly Wall Street. How about Main Street?

A: Among those on the S&P watch list are insurance groups Knights of Columbus, New York Life Insurance Co., Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America, United Services Automobile Association and others. All have big holdings in U.S. Treasury securities.

S&P did stress that AAA-rated U.S.-based firms such as Microsoft, Exxon Mobil, Johnson & Johnson and Automatic Data Processing Inc. won't necessarily lose their top ratings. Corporate borrowers, many flush with cash, probably wouldn't see a downgrade.

Q: Are there local effects?

A: Numerous municipal housing bonds backed by the U.S. government are on the watch list, too, threatening local finances. If U.S. government debt gets a downgrade, the S&P and its main competitors Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investors Service will review state, county and municipal bond issues with an eye toward possible downgrades.

Moody's signaled July 13 that at least 7,000 AAA municipal credits and $130 billion in municipal debt linked to the U.S. government also could be downgraded. This would raise future borrowing costs for them. Moody's even added bonds issued by the governments of Israel and Egypt that are guaranteed by the U.S. government as up for a downgrade.

Q: How does this affect me directly?

A: Lots of U.S. lending rates are based at least in part on the interest rates on U.S. government bonds. These include mortgages, car loans and student loans. If there's a ratings downgrade and U.S. bond yields rise, that will spill over eventually into lending rates across the economy. This will add another head wind to the weak recovery.

Q: Just how weak is this recovery?

A: The Federal Reserve released its Beige Book of latest data Wednesday, showing the economy decelerating from May through July. Second-quarter growth numbers will come out Friday; they're expected to show very slow growth for the first half of the year.

"The U.S. economic picture for the first half of 2011 will not be a pretty one. One will remember the slowdown in the manufacturing sector, a bounce-back in the unemployment rate, weak housing, poor confidence and the debt-ceiling debacle," Gregory Daco, U.S. economist for forecaster IHS Global Insight, wrote in a note to investors.

A look at what will happen if agencies downgrade U.S. debt - KansasCity.com
 
Life will go on. The Country will still be here. It's all just Fear Mongering B.S. These Credit Agencies who give these ratings are completely bogus. These are the same credit agencies who gave Fannie Mae & Freddy Mac excellent ratings for years. They certainly didn't see the catastrophic Economic Collapse that came. So what good are they? They're way over-rated themselves. They're given far too much credibility. The World really wont end if we don't raise the Debt Limit. I promise. This is all just shameful Fear Mongering. These Credit Agencies should probably be investigated. Why should anyone trust them?
 
what a complete fool.

How I wish this country could educate these brick brains.

They just love their stupidity too much
 
No to mention our credit will still be superior to other countries. Personally, I doubt it will happen.
 
These Credit Agencies who give these ratings really should be investigated. They have a very long History of being corrupt and incompetent. They're given far too much credibilty. The Country will move on and survive if the Debt Limit isn't raised. This Fear Mongering 'Armageddon' stuff is for the ignorant sheeple in this country. Some are easily spooked. And these corrupt Credit Rating Agencies and Politicians know this. Fear & Anxiety is the name of the game for these jerks. The country will survive not raising the Debt Limit. Seriously,it's true.
 
Life will go on. The Country will still be here.

And Obama and the Federal government will be gone, just as the radical right desires.

It’s unclear as to which is worse: the ignorance of the extreme right with regard to the facts of our economic reality or the disdain they have for fellow Americans adversely effected.
 
Life will go on. The Country will still be here. It's all just Fear Mongering B.S. These Credit Agencies who give these ratings are completely bogus. These are the same credit agencies who gave Fannie Mae & Freddy Mac excellent ratings for years. They certainly didn't see the catastrophic Economic Collapse that came. So what good are they? They're way over-rated themselves. They're given far too much credibility. The World really wont end if we don't raise the Debt Limit. I promise. This is all just shameful Fear Mongering. These Credit Agencies should probably be investigated. Why should anyone trust them?
These aren't credit agencies. They are investment advisory services. Both the companies have been cutting back on the AAA ratings since 2008. These rating carry a tremendous weight with bond investors. Many banks, insurance companies, and pension funds limit investments to AAA rated bonds. Many financial institution are limited to investment grade bonds.

I see one of the biggest problems for these institutions is deciding what to do with current treasury bill holdings as well new purchase since many financial institution are limited as to what they can invest in by their charter or by law. I doubt that any allowance were ever made for and event like this. Who would have ever dreamed that the United States would allow this to happen. People invest in treasuries because they are considered the safest investment in world. But it looks like that is all going to change along with the economic outlook for the nation.
 
Have they ever predicted anything correctly?

Not much. They've been consistently wrong for many years. They gave Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac excellent Credit Ratings for many years. They were absolutely clueless as to the coming catastrophic Economic Collapse. They want to downgrade,than so be it. The Country will survive it. Way too much credibilty is being given to these Agencies. They're wrong most of the time. So they can't scare me.
 
Have they ever predicted anything correctly?

Not much. They've been consistently wrong for many years. They gave Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac excellent Credit Ratings for many years. They were absolutely clueless as to the coming catastrophic Economic Collapse. They want to downgrade,than so be it. The Country will survive it. Wat too much credibilty is being given to these Agencies. They're wrong most of the time. So they can't scare me.

when was the right correct on anything in the last 30 years?
 
these same credit agencies had AIG as AAA a few days before they imploded

Yes they're wrong most of the time. Some Politicians are just using these bogus Credit Rating Agencies to scare the People. It is working on many unfortunately. These bogus Credit Ratings Agencies can't scare me though. Because i know they're full of shit most of the time. People just need to quit being so afraid and start getting informed. These Politicians count on the sheep being spooked and uninformed. The last thing they want is for people to get informed. They know their house of cards would fall if that happened. Just don't let them scare you. Not raising the Debt Limit wont be the end of America. That's just Bullshit.
 
Looks folks those debt instruments are underpinning a lot of balance sheets.

If the debt's value significantly falls on secondary markets dominos are going to start falling.

Those t-bills are counted as good as cash.

If the debt market loses that confidence in them molly bar the door.

I do not think that this will happen, but if it does, those of you who are now whistling in the dark are going to be in for a rude awakening.
 
Standard and Poors said the chances of a downgrade is about 50/50. If we're downgraded, it will probably be to AA or A. If they go further than that then US bonds would not be considered investment grade and that would be a bigger disaster than even imagined by the Tea Party.

If we are downgraded the following countries will be consider a safer place for your money because they are AAA rated.

--Australia
--Austria
--Canada
--Denmark
--Finland
--France
--Germany
--Hong Kong
--Netherlands
--Norway
--Singapore
--Sweden
--Switzerland
--United Kingdom
 
Have they ever predicted anything correctly?

Not much. They've been consistently wrong for many years. They gave Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac excellent Credit Ratings for many years. They were absolutely clueless as to the coming catastrophic Economic Collapse. They want to downgrade,than so be it. The Country will survive it. Wat too much credibilty is being given to these Agencies. They're wrong most of the time. So they can't scare me.

when was the right correct on anything in the last 30 years?



Who cares s0n??!!!! The whole kit and kaboodle goes back to the right next year. Not bad for not getting anything right for the past 30 years!!:boobies::boobies::fu: We'll take it thanks......
 
these same credit agencies had AIG as AAA a few days before they imploded

Yes they're wrong most of the time. Some Politicians are just using these bogus Credit Rating Agencies to scare the People. It is working on many unfortunately. These bogus Credit Ratings Agencies can't scare me though. Because i know they're full of shit most of the time. People just need to quit being so afraid and start getting informed. These Politicians count on the sheep being spooked and uninformed. The last thing they want is for people to get informed. They know their house of cards would fall if that happened. Just don't let them scare you. Not raising the Debt Limit wont be the end of America. That's just Bullshit.
If the debt ceiling is not raised we would eventually default on much of our debt. The Tea Party would get what they want, about 1/3 of the the government would totally disappear quite abruptly. That would suck about 1.5 trillion dollars out of the economy and a couple of hundred thousand government jobs along with many millions in the private sector, state, and local government jobs that depend on the federal government.
 
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