Après S&P, Moody’s : Washington menacé de perdre son AAA

Après S&P, Moody’s : Washington menacé de perdre son AAA

Après l’avertissement de l’agence de cotation Standard & Poor’s (S&P) d’avril dernier, c’est l’agence de cotation Moody’s qui avertit le gouvernement des USA. La cotation économique et financière AAA des USA va être passée en revue pour une possible rétrogradation. Toujours en cause, la dette colossale du gouvernement US et les perspectives politiques incertaines d’un accord sur cette dette, ainsi que le déficit du même gouvernement fédéral.

S’il s’agit d’un avertissement technique concernant une matière financière et budgétaire essentiellement, le sujet est indirectement beaucoup plus important, dans la mesure où il illustre d’abord la paralysie politique de Washington, avec l’impossibilité d’un accord politique bipartisan pour tenter de mettre un terme à cette situation catastrophique. Encore une fois, c’est la paralysie du fonctionnement du Système qui est en cause, avec le grippage fondamental du processus du pouvoir.

Salon.com donne, ce 2 juin 2011, la nouvelle retransmise par Associated Press.

«A credit rating agency is warning the U.S. government that it could lose its sterling debt rating if Congress and the Obama administration don't reach an agreement to raise the nation's borrowing limit. Moody's Investors Service said Thursday that if the parties fail to make progress soon, it would put the U.S. rating under review for a possible downgrade. That's because there's a “very small but rising risk” that the government will default on its debts.

»Standard & Poor's, another major credit rating agency, issued a similar warning in April.

»The U.S. government hit its $14.3 trillion borrowing limit on May 16. The debt limit is the amount the government can borrow to help finance its operations. A lower credit rating could ripple through the U.S. economy and ultimately hurt consumers. That's because many loans, including mortgages, tend to follow yields on U.S. Treasury bonds. So interest rates could rise.

»Moody's also warned the government could face a downgrade if it fails to come up with a long-term plan to reduce the country's deficit. The federal budget deficit is on pace to exceed $1 trillion for the third straight year. Moody's said it had expected strong political debate over the topic. But the entrenchment of both sides is greater than it anticipated. […]

»Time is growing short. The Treasury Department has said the U.S. government is at risk of a default if it does not raise the borrowing limit by Aug. 2. “The heightened polarization over the debt limit has increased the odds of a short-lived default” by the government, the rating agency said. “If this situation remains unchanged in coming weeks, Moody's will place the rating under review.”»

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