Trends

Making the Grade: A Guide to S&P’s Latest Credit Ratings by Country

Written by Mint.com
Published May 16, 2011
0 min read
The views expressed on this blog are those of the bloggers, and not necessarily those of Intuit. Third-party blogger may have received compensation for their time and services. Click here to read full disclosure on third-party bloggers. This blog does not provide legal, financial, accounting or tax advice. The content on this blog is "as is" and carries no warranties. Intuit does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, reliability, and completeness of the content on this blog. After 20 days, comments are closed on posts. Intuit may, but has no obligation to, monitor comments. Comments that include profanity or abusive language will not be posted. Click here to read full Terms of Service.

Last month, the credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s lowered its outlook on U.S. debt to “negative,” suggesting that the United States’ top-flight “AAA” credit rating is vulnerable to a downgrade, which could send interest rates up, make it hard for businesses to get capital, and put the brakes on economic recovery. But the U.S. isn’t alone; here’s a look at where other major world economies rank on the credit rating spectrum, plus an sampling of smaller countries whose shaky ratings put them in the category of “speculative” investments.