By RP Staff, on Mon Aug 8, 2011 at 4:15 PM ET The RP is currently holding forth on Wall Street Journal Radio — the Daily Wrap with Michael Castner — about today’s economic crisis and his nationally-discussed piece, Credit Downgrade for Dummies.
To listen to the program live, click here, or on the logo below:
By RP Staff, on Mon Aug 8, 2011 at 3:30 PM ET The RP wil be interviewed this afternoon at 4:15 PM EDT on Wall Street Journal Radio about today’s economic crisis and his nationally-discussed piece, Credit Downgrade for Dummies.
To find out what radio affiliate carries the show in your area, click here.
To listen to the program live, click here.
By RP Staff, on Mon Aug 8, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET Just as Jerry Lewis is to France, the RP is to Canada — the inexplicable expert on all matters of the American economy. Over the weekend, CTV, Canada’s CNN, interviewed the RP about the impact of the S&P credit downgrade.
Click here, or on the logo below, to watch:
By RP Staff, on Mon Aug 8, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET In case you were battling the heat and rain of Kentucky’s Fancy Farm political festivities — or more appropriately, were enjoying some quality time with your family — you may have missed the RP’s latest column that The Huffington Post touted on its home page all weekend.
Having received positive feedback — and considerable media attention — from his piece two weeks ago,”Debt Ceiling for Dummies,” the RP penned a column to help explain in similarly straight-forward terms the import of Friday night’s decision by S&P to downgrade U.S. credit.
Here’s an excerpt from “Credit Downgrade for Dummies“:
Why should we listen to the credit agencies — aren’t they part of the problem?
There is broad consensus that credit rating agency action — or often times, inaction — was a significant contributor to the 2008 financial collapse. This April, a U.S. Senate investigations panel declared that Moody’s and S&P triggered the financial crisis when they were forced to downgrade their ratings on the very complex and controversial mortgage-backed securities that were at the heart of the collapse that almost brought our entire financial system to its knees. Had the ratings agencies been exercising more diligence, many experts argue, they would have alerted investors of the riskiness of these controversial financial instruments long before they became a problem.
However, while the credit ratings agencies do not enter the discussion with entirely clean hands, their decisions are extraordinary significant. Their role is written into the statutes and regulations that govern the financial system. Think of it this way: Even though progressives may decry the partisanship on the U.S. Supreme Court, and thoroughly detest some of its recent 5-4 decisions, we must abide by them.
Click here to read the RP’s full piece, “Credit Downgrade for Dummies” at The Huffington Post.
By Jonathan Miller, on Sat Aug 6, 2011 at 2:30 PM ET Having received positive feedback — and considerable media attention — from my piece two weeks ago that explained the sometimes esoteric, often confusing subject matter surrounding the debt crisis debate (“Debt Ceiling for Dummies“), I decided today to pen a quick column to help explain in similarly straight-forward terms the import of last night’s decision by S&P to downgrade U.S. credit.
Here’s an excerpt from my latest Huffington Post column, “Credit Downgrade for Dummies“:
Who are the credit rating agencies and what did they just do?
There are three primary national credit rating agencies: Fitch, Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”), and Standard and Poor’s (“S&P”). These agencies rate the creditworthiness of governments, companies and individual securities, allowing investors to better understand the risk of their investments. The higher the rating, the more creditworthy — or, alternatively, the less risky — the investment.
Our federal government is one of the many entities these agencies rate. The U.S. borrows money — by issuing bonds and Treasury bills to governments, corporations and individual investors — in order to operate all of its essential functions. The outstanding current federal debt currently exceeds $14.5 trillion.
Since the credit rating agencies were established, U.S. Treasuries have always enjoyed a triple A rating, the very highest: indicating to global financial markets that they are among the safest investment instruments in the world. Friday night, however — for the first time in the nation’s history — S&P downgraded the rating of the nation’s long-term debt to AA+, one notch below AAA, meaning that the U.S. has been removed from its list of risk-free borrowers.
Earlier in the week, Moody’s and Fitch both declined to downgrade the country’s credit rating. Moody’s, however, changed its “outlook” on U.S. debt to “negative,” meaning that there is a risk of a future downgrade. Fitch stated it would determine whether to lower its own outlook by the end of the month. Both have urged Congress to make more progress in debt reduction in order to avoid a potential full downgrade.
Click here to read my full piece, “Credit Downgrade for Dummies” at The Huffington Post.
By RP Staff, on Fri Aug 5, 2011 at 2:00 PM ET U.S. Senator John McCain appeared this week on No Labels Radio, for which the RP is a regular co-host.
He shared some interesting observations about the debt ceiling debate and the future of civility in Congress.
Click here to listen to the interview.
By RP Staff, on Thu Aug 4, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET From Noon EDT to 1:00 PM EDT, the RP will be talking the debt ceiling and No Labels on Jefferson Public Radio, which covers Oregon and Northern California.
You can tune in online by clicking here.
By RP Staff, on Thu Aug 4, 2011 at 11:00 AM ET The RP will be talking the debt ceiling and No Labels on Jefferson Public Radio, which covers Oregon and Northern California at Noon EDT/9:00 PDT.
For those in the RP Nation without Pacific Ocean views, tune in online by clicking here.
By RP Staff, on Wed Aug 3, 2011 at 5:00 PM ET You’ve heard what the RP has had to say about the debt deal.
Yesterday, contributing RP Artur Davis, a former Democratic Congressman had his say.
Well, tomorrow, you’ll hear from a Republican. And not just any: The immediate past chair of the Republican National Committee, contributing RP Michael Steele. Tune in first thing tomorrow to see how he analyzes the outcome.
See you then!
By RP Staff, on Tue Aug 2, 2011 at 2:30 PM ET From 2:30 PM to 3:00 PM EDT, the RP will be the guest on Bloomberg Radio, to discuss the debt ceiling crisis and all of the latest developments.
Click here, or on the logo below, to listen to the interview LIVE online.
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