Tuesday 14 February 2012

The UK faces a ratings downgrade; good bye triple-A

Moodys has threatened to take away Britain's AAA credit rating. The only upside is that Britain isn't the only country being primed for a rating cut. France and Italy are also up for the chop.

Do we deserve the ratings downgrade? The fiscal deficit remains painfully high, public sector indebtedness is growing and the economy is slowing. The central bank is printing money to keep down UK government yields. Private firms are paying back their loans, thus supressing investment, the key ingredient of a post crisis recovery. Unemployment remains high, inflation is around 5 percent and the housing market is slowly deflating.

Can anyone give a single reason why the UK should keep its triple-A rating?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

UK sovereign AND Bank of England (buried with Malta news) are BOTH on negative outlook; is that a direct swipe at 'printy-printy"?

Ted said...

The continuity Brown economy is heading for the rocks and the UK is going to receive a richly deserved spanking. Wont be long now.

dearieme said...

Ted, have you any idea why the present government has just carried on along Brown's lines? It baffles me.

Anonymous said...

they are only carrying out the orders they were given

Strategist said...

The comments thread on this site is now one of the most stomach-churning freakshows on the web. Pass the sickbag, Alice.

Alice Cook said...

strategist

A slight over statement, I think...

Personally, I am happy to have any comment. Even yours!

Alice

Strategist said...

Bless you for that!

Anonymous said...

a good credit rating only matter when you have other ratings to compare it to. looks as though the rest of the western world will soon be joining us in applying for loan consolidation ! mehehe