So Why Is A Credit Rating Important?
According to this report, there is anger in the EU about the downgrading of the credit rating of France and eight other EU countries.
So is this important for the countries involved?
Look at it on a personal basis!
If you have a good credit rating, you can borrow money a lot cheaper, than if you have a bad one.
It’s just the same really.
The only difference is that the rating agencies seem to have a large number of individual ratings, which are meaningless to the man on the Dalston omnibus, unless he’s a banker going home from the City.
Incidentally, we’re going to borrow £180 billion this year. if we were downgraded, that might cost us around £2 billion or even more.
So the downgrading of France has really dropped them dans le soupe! And President Sarkozy says we’re in a worse state than France, but then our rating hasn’t been cut and their’s has.
I liked this comment on The Times website under a detailed explanation of the downgrading.
Had it been us losing our AAA I can only imagine the very high level of spite, malice and vituperation which would be hurled our way from France. The French would have been having the time of their life! Yet the British government has not made any formal comment at all and the on-line comments have been remarkably restrained although I have to admit to just a modicum of schadenfreude.
We may not have made any official statement, but I suspect quite a few of the great and good are laughing in their beer tonight.
The Anonymous Widower 
How much of the money loaned to France during and for the Second World War was ever repaid ???????
Comment by George Bell | January 15, 2012 |
I have no idea. But remember, a lot of problems are caused by their laws of succession and property distribution laid down by Napoleon. There was this story about the Lutchyens house a couple of weeks ago, that should have ended up as a museum or in the UK would have gone to the National Trust, but now it’ll be sold to some billionaire and gutted, with the gardens ruined.
The French have got so many things wrong .
Comment by AnonW | January 15, 2012 |