Dean Baker is, rightly, annoyed at the WaPo for engaging in a practice I’ve decried often: taking any uptick in interest rates, often one that is probably the result of economic optimism, and reporting as a settled fact that it reflects debt fears.
In this case, the target is the UK. Here’s Daniel Davies, comparing that downgrade with the current US warning. Following his links, I also see an essay I’ve been looking for by John Quiggin, who points out that the rating agencies, which completely missed the risks in mortgage-backed securities, simultaneously have a “long-standing bias against the public sector.”
And I’m glad to see that Jamie Galbraith got a good laugh out of the whole thing. Maybe I’m not as amused because I spend too much time worrying that Very Serious People are actually listening.