DJofSD
11-30-2011, 10:32 AM
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ratings-firms-misread-signs-greek-124006000.html
Moody’s lapses before last year helped embolden Greece to heap on billions in sovereign debt and encouraged investors to invest more heavily in its debt. Now some of those buyers face 50 percent losses on the bonds — loans that carried the agencies’ stamp of approval but that Greece can no longer afford to pay off. Had the rating agencies been more skeptical of euro zone countries’ borrowing beyond their means, critics say, that might have slowed the debt carousel for Greece and others.
The higher credit ratings made it “easier to raise debt” than to raise taxes or make other unpopular and painful economic adjustments, said Barbara Ridpath, head of Standard & Poor’s ratings activities in Europe between 2004 and 2008.
“The credit rating agencies failed in their job,” said Wolf Klinz, a European Parliament member from Germany and author of a critical 2010 report on ratings agencies. “They held on artificially too long to their original rating. They should have started earlier.”
Cue Gilda: "Never mind!"
Moody’s lapses before last year helped embolden Greece to heap on billions in sovereign debt and encouraged investors to invest more heavily in its debt. Now some of those buyers face 50 percent losses on the bonds — loans that carried the agencies’ stamp of approval but that Greece can no longer afford to pay off. Had the rating agencies been more skeptical of euro zone countries’ borrowing beyond their means, critics say, that might have slowed the debt carousel for Greece and others.
The higher credit ratings made it “easier to raise debt” than to raise taxes or make other unpopular and painful economic adjustments, said Barbara Ridpath, head of Standard & Poor’s ratings activities in Europe between 2004 and 2008.
“The credit rating agencies failed in their job,” said Wolf Klinz, a European Parliament member from Germany and author of a critical 2010 report on ratings agencies. “They held on artificially too long to their original rating. They should have started earlier.”
Cue Gilda: "Never mind!"