Would you rather lend money to the United States, or New Zealand? Going by credit rating alone, that could be a tossup, after Fitch Ratings downgraded its assessment of the U.S. on Tuesday.

“Before the downgrade, two out of the three major credit agencies gave the U.S. a perfect AAA rating, with Standard and Poor’s having reduced it a notch to AA+ in 2011. That meant the U.S. was above the European Union, which has an AA rating from S&P and is rated AAA by Fitch and Moody’s. Now, only Moody’s gives the U.S. a pristine rating, putting it even with New Zealand, the island nation with a population of 5.1 million and a gross domestic product on par with Utah.”

  • Blaze@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    3·
    11 months ago

    Australia AAA Aaa AAA

    Canada AAA Aaa AA+

    Denmark AAA Aaa AAA

    Germany AAA Aaa AAA

    Luxembourg AAA Aaa AAA

    Netherlands AAA Aaa AAA

    Switzerland AAA Aaa AAA

    Norway AAA Aaa AAA

    Sweden AAA Aaa AAA

    European Union AA Aaa AAA

    Singapore AAA Aaa AAA

    United States AA+ Aaa AA+

    New Zealand AA+ Aaa AA+

    Liechtenstein AAA Not rated Not rated

    However, in its downgrade, Fitch highlighted dysfunction in the U.S. government, including repeated showdowns over the debt ceiling that have called into question whether the U.S. would default on its debts, as well as the ever-ballooning national debt.