samedi 6 août 2011

Downgrading the US

Felix Salmon à Reuters a bien compris la vraie raison pour laquelle S&P a baissé la cote des Etats-Unis de AAA à AA+:

"[...] the US does not deserve a triple-A rating, and the reason has nothing whatsoever to do with its debt ratios. America’s ability to pay is neither here nor there: the problem is its willingness to pay. And there’s a serious constituency of powerful people in Congress who are perfectly willing and even eager to drive the US into default. The Tea Party is fully cognizant that it has been given a bazooka, and it’s just itching to pull the trigger. There’s no good reason to believe that won’t happen at some point."

The Economist ajoute :

"It is striking that the proponents of this strategy seem so oblivious to its impact. Our economy is lubricated by a sophisticated and stable credit market whose most vital component is also the most ephemeral: trust. As the crisis amply demonstrated, when trust erodes, the system freezes up. America has built a reputation for responsible and credible management of its finances over the centuries, and that reputation has been reduced to a political football, like a federal judgeship. Henceforth a foreign pension fund or central bank that once mindlessly ploughed his spare cash into Treasurys will have to think twice."

Tout est de la faute des Républicains et de leur aile droite, de leur intransigeance et de leur refus d'un compromis prévoyant une augmentation des impôts, donc des revenus de l'Etat, pour les plus riches et donc les plus capables de payer, et ce pour payer l'énorme dette qu'à contracté essentiellement l'administration Bush, et pour tenter d'apporter une solution à la crise causée par les banquiers avides et inconscients. C'est stupéfiant!