Readers consider the efficacy of ratings agencies

The following comments reflect the views of DW-WORLD.DE readers. DW-WORLD.DE reserves the right to edit for length and appropriateness of content.

The S&P downgrading is meaningless and should be totally ignored. This was the mob that gave Lehmann Bros and others AAA-ratings just before they collapsed under a mountain of debt and started the disastrous Global Financial Crisis. S&P have been totally discredited, so just ignore them and their stupid ratings. -- Robert, Australia

So what about a euro downgrade? Don't take the negative view, switch to the positive. Turkey is closer to joining the eurozone. The best way forward is to see the positive. See this downgrade as a silver-lined golden cloud. Turn around this financial "downgrade" - to an upgrade. Standard and Poor's will beat a retreat or lose face! -- Charles, UK

The question that needs to be asked is whether US rating agencies have a political agenda. While the US and the UK are printing money to create a never-before-seen stock of money, the ratings agencies, through their ratings opinion, basically "advise" as to its application. Like Thomas Jefferson explained in 1802, if bank holding companies (finally created in 2008) control currencies through inflation and deflation, they are more dangerous to our liberties than any standing army. Aren't these holding companies also stakeholders in the Federal Reserve? Germany is receiving bond money with negative interest rates (-0.010 percent), while keeping Germany elevated through AAA ratings. Then the time will come when Germany has to refinance maturing bonds, which will be like pulling the rug out from under it because it will be expensive. The Germans were anticipating tax cuts for assisting their economy but are now contemplating not introducing them, as they are expecting such political maneuvering. -- Hans, Argentina

I don't know what all the fuss is about. The agencies are only doing their job. You have ratings in sports, called results and tables or standings, and nobody complains. I can remember a beer commercial that was aired in New York years ago. The brand was Rheingold. It said: "We are selling a lot of beer but we don't know why. But we must be doing something right." Let's turn it around now, and the actors that got downgraded should say: "We got downgraded, but we don't know why. But we must be doing something wrong." It might just be the first step to recovery. -- Alfred, Mexico

Compiled by Stuart Tiffen and Petra Kusserow
Editor: Nancy Isenson