Originally Posted by
misanthropist
Not that it's not an issue or anything...but back in the early 90s we had our credit rating cut down to AA up here in Canada.
Obviously it wasn't ideal, but we've been back at AAA for a few years now having put more effort into balancing our federal budgets since about 1995 or so.
So at the least, I can say from experience that living in a country without a triple A credit score is not automatically a major concern. I'm sure if you get people in who can take control of the US deficits, you'll find your credit restored.
Not to take away from the "man the battle stations" feel of the thread or anything...just saying, I have been through it in my country and it didn't end up being that big of a deal. It was just an impetus to get our finances on track, and, thankfully, that was done, and only a few years later, we now have one of the strongest economies in the world. And, in fact, have been pretty unscathed by the worldwide credit problems of the last three years.
So it can be done, as long as there is the political will. The problem in the US at the moment is that no one party has enough power to act decisively. Nobody has the political stomach for anything, because the margins of victory and defeat are razor thin.
Anyway, as long as you can get control of your federal budgets, it's a problematic, but not necessarily disastrous, situation, as evidenced by my own country's slide into credit trouble, and subsequent climb back out.
