What Is a Credit Rating?

What Is a Credit Rating?
A Moody's sign on the 7 World Trade Center tower in New York City on Aug. 2, 2011. Mike Segar/Reuters
Jeffrey A. Tucker
Updated:
0:00
Commentary

The credit rating for U.S. bonds was just downgraded again. Moody’s rating went from AAA to AA1, which sounds miniscule. In reality, it is significant. This is the first time in more than a century that U.S. government debt has no perfect rating from three major credit rating agencies—Moody’s, Fitch Ratings, and Standard & Poor’s.

Jeffrey A. Tucker
Jeffrey A. Tucker
Author
Jeffrey A. Tucker is the founder and president of the Brownstone Institute and the author of many thousands of articles in the scholarly and popular press, as well as 10 books in five languages, most recently “Liberty or Lockdown.” He is also the editor of “The Best of Ludwig von Mises.” He writes a daily column on economics for The Epoch Times and speaks widely on the topics of economics, technology, social philosophy, and culture. He can be reached at [email protected]