On the S&P Downgrade and Blame
I realize that it’s very rare for me to post on this blog anymore, as my extracurricular activities have shifted to being focused primarily on amateur radio, but news of the US’s credit downgrade and the resultant frenzy by the punditocracy oblige me to speak up.
1. Regarding the downgrade itself, I think S&P’s criticisms are spot on. However, I do question whether S&P has strayed from evaluating credit risk to evaluating the national economy. After all, if the federal government had absolutely no other option available, it could simply print more money to make the payments.
Granted, doing that would be even more catastrophic to the economy than a one-position downgrade, but it is an option.
I’ve often wondered how much of the work done by entities like S&P is art, rather than science. Recent events have me shifting the needle more towards the art side of the gauge I’m afraid.
2. As to who’s fault the downgrade is, I have a novel idea: Rather than pointing fingers at political parties or individual politicians, perhaps we the people should be looking in mirrors and pointing fingers at ourselves.
It’s We The People who elected the current crop of politicians, who seem to have a chronic inability to do anything other than posture for political benefit.
It’s We The People who consume sensationalized media, creating demand for “news” stories that thrive on strife, soundbites, junk science, and the inability to appreciate that reality has multiple grey dimensions instead of the flat, two dimensional black-and-white fiction portrayed in the media.
And it’s We The People who want our cushy services (be they welfare programs, shiny military toys, or government contracts for particular industries) without having to pay for them or otherwise experience inconvenience.
When a society shifts from the balance of realism to unstable, unrealistic chaos, the results will be messy and unfortunate.
If, as a society, we have truly lost the ability to assume personal responsibility for our messes, a federal credit downgrade is probably the least of our problems.
