January 17, 2012

And the Markets Didn't Give a Damn What S&P Said

People demonstrate with "a" placards in front of the headquarters 
of Standard & Poor's in Paris.
First of all let me state that I generally don’t like people who say, “I knew it was going to be like that.” But now I’m going to contradict myself by saying, “And sure enough, the markets didn’t give a damn what Standard & Poor’s said.” In fact they shrugged off S&P decision to downgrade the credit ratings of nine euro-zone countries. Parallely, it was no surprise, too, that Standard & Poor’s axe took another swing at Europe Monday, this time stripping Europe’s bailout fund of its AAA status. Even in this case we could apply the same scheme as that applied above: Quod erat demonstrandum

1 comment:

  1. Ironically, the pressure on the euro and the European economy, assuming this has something to do with the credit rating agencies' 'kind concern', is creating results favourable to the European markets.
    After at least five years of a bundesbank economic policy practiced by the ECB, enthusiastically defended by Trichet & co, which has been suffocating the markets and having a negative effect on exports, certainly in southern Europe, the euro is now at a reasonable exchange level rate with the value of the dollar and the value of other national monies. Naturally this is more to Europe's advantage than America's. Providing Draghi isn't persuaded to try to correct the tendency. But I don't think his ambitions correspond with those that Trichet seemed to openly advocate.
    Petrol is actually more expensive,of course, but what one loses on the roudabouts one gains on the swings.

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