On January 13, 2012, “S&P stripped France and Austria of their prized triple-A credit ratings and reduced the ratings of seven other [states in the euro-zone], including Italy, Spain and Portugal. Germany, Finland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were spared, along with Belgium, Estonia and Ireland.”[1] Italy was downgraded from single-A to triple-B-plus. "We think there are elements missing in their analysis … when it comes to the growth strategy … there is no space for maneuver for fiscal impetus but we believe that a growth strategy will have to rely mainly on structural reforms," Olivier Bailly, an E.U. Government spokesman, told reporters.[2] “Bailly also called the timing of the S&P decisions ‘very odd’ citing fiscal policies adopted to weather the crisis in the downgraded countries as well as the two successful debt auctions in Spain and Italy last week. ‘We think that there is a strange timing in this announcement considering the signals from the markets,’ Mr. Bailly said.”[3] The “very odd” and “strange timing” reference a tacit political motive behind S&P, which the European officials point out is an American company.
The full essay is at "Essays on the E.U. Political Economy," available at Amazon.
1. Christopher Emsden, Matina Stevis, and Bernd Radowitz, “E.U. Leaders Focuson ‘Progress’,” The Wall Street Journal, January 16, 2012.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
