4534 days ago
On Thursday night Moody’s, the credit ratings agency, downgraded its stance on many of the world’s biggest banks, including RBS, HSBC and Barclays. Cue headlines. Shock horror. But what does this all mean? Not quite as much as you might think.
The track record of the credit rating agencies is pretty piss poor. They thought Greece, Spain and Ireland were all safe enough bets until only a few weeks before the merde started hitting the fan. The average kebab salesman on the streets of Athens knew his country was a basket case before that was reflected in the ratings of the agencies. And so a warning that things have got tougher for the banks is hardly a great shock. Bad debts are increasing, economic growth is pedestrian at best, Europe is in crisis so this is not rocket science. What next? The Pope is a catholic/Call Me Dave is a clueless wimp/ Ireland are not going to win Euro 2012 – just take your pick
