Barron's
March 12, 2011
The Greeks have a word for it. Unfortunately, it can't be printed in a family magazine. Suffice to it say, the word in question is not complimentary. But then, how could it be, directed as it is at Moody's?
What occasioned the distinctly earthy expression of disapproval by the heirs of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle was that Moody's, ignoring the country's historic repute as the cradle of democracy, had the effrontery to slash Greece's credit rating three whole notches, thus casting its sovereign debt ever deeper into the Hades of junk bondage, and, adding insult to injury, warned a further cut was not outside the realm of possibility.
Not content with muttering imprecations, the powers-that-be in Greece also blamed the credit agencies with causing undue financial distress for their country and fired off a letter to the European Union demanding it induce Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch to stop being so mean. Actually, we found the complaints by the finance minister and prime minister quite revelatory, since we were under the misimpression that feckless government borrowing and spending has something to do with the financial woes that the likes of Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Greece find themselves wallowing in. Live and learn, we guess.
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