Unit 4 Macro: France loses her AAA credit rating

It is perhaps a moment of more political than economic significance, but on Friday 13th January 2012 Standard and Poors, a leading credit rating agency announced that France was losing her triple A (AAA) credit rating for sovereign debt. It was part of a larger downgrading of government bonds among a sizeable chunk of Euro Zone countries, the argument being that plans to achieve deficit reduction lacked credibility. France was downgraded, S&P also lowered the long-term ratings on Austria, Malta, Slovakia, and Slovenia, by one notch. The rating levels for Cyprus, Italy, Portugal and Spain were dropped two notches.

Here is a brief Channel 4 report on the news and some other links to the story. Only four Euro Zone countries now have an AAA rating. Do you know who they are?

Economist: Average common denominator

Guardian: Eurozone crisis: As sales start in Paris, the Élysée is discounted too

Unit 2 Macro: Cyclical and Structural Economic Issues Facing the UK [23 May 2012]
Revision notes on unemployment [20 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Bank Cuts UK growth Forecast for 2012 [16 May 2012]
Grexit - Andrew Balls on Greece and the Euro [16 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Model answer for revision data question [9 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: 10 Key Revision Topics for EdExcel [7 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Monetary Policy and Inflation Glossary [5 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Trade and Balance of Payments Glossary [5 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Fiscal Policy Glossary [5 May 2012]
Macro Revision - Key Statistics on the UK Economy [4 May 2012]
Robert Schiller - Finance and the Good Society [1 May 2012]
Macro Revision: Putting Things in Context [29 Apr 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Britain back in Recession [29 Apr 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: The Euro Zone Crisis (Revision) [22 Apr 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Globalisation and the Growth of Ports [10 Apr 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Revision on Interest Rates and the Exchange Rate [3 Apr 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Pain in Spain as Fiscal Austerity Bites [1 Apr 2012]
Unit 3 Micro: EU Imposes Further Price Cap on Mobile Phone Companies [29 Mar 2012]
Life in the Slow Lane - UK Growth in 2011 Lags the Euro Area [28 Mar 2012]
George Buckley at the Millfield Economics Society [28 Mar 2012]
Beyond the Bike - Monetary Policy in Africa [28 Mar 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Video Resources on the Euro Crisis [10 Mar 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Enlarging the EU [9 Mar 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Policies to Drive Economic Recovery [9 Mar 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: News Videos on the German Economy [9 Mar 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Might Oil Prices Bring another Recession? [4 Mar 2012]
Pinterest: Board on Developments in the EU Economy [19 Feb 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: King on the UK Economy [15 Feb 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: China’s Trade Engine is Spluttering [10 Feb 2012]
Martin Wolf on Global Shocks [10 Feb 2012]
Trucks are the new way of measuring debt [1 Feb 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Growth and Development - Some Indicators [30 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Russia Joins the WTO [22 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Economics of Fiscal Deficit Reduction [12 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: UK Bond Yields Reach Record Lows [11 Jan 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Low Cost Airlines Beat the Recession [1 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Exchange Rate Economics - Where next for the US Dollar? [31 Dec 2011]
European Economics: Resources on the CAP [28 Dec 2011]
2011 in Review - The US Economy [27 Dec 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: The UK Housing Market in 2011 [26 Dec 2011]
The Eurozone Crisis Explained (again!) [22 Dec 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Celebrating (?) Ten Years of Euro Notes and Coins [2 Dec 2011]
Beyond the Bike - The Value of Money [19 Nov 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Should the EU introduce a Tobin Tax? [14 Nov 2011]
AS Macro: The State of British Business [13 Nov 2011]
Eurozone crisis - a selection of resources [12 Nov 2011]
Can the “invisible hand” solve Africa’s poverty? [13 Oct 2011]
Skidelsky in Madrid [12 Oct 2011]
Why Is Macroeconomics Such A Mess? [11 Oct 2011]
Greek debt decision tree [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Greek Economy at Default’s Door [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Greece on the Brink of Default [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: IMF Flags up Risks of Double Dip [20 Sep 2011]
Mixing with the Nobel Economists [4 Sep 2011]
hiphopnomics [31 Jul 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Dangers of High Inflation [11 Jul 2011]
AQA ECON4 Context [20 Jun 2011]
A2 Macro: Consumer Spending [30 May 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Deflation [24 May 2011]
PIIGS on the chopping block? [24 May 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Recession [23 May 2011]
AQA A2 Economics - European Context [23 May 2011]
EU Economics: Comparing the UK with Europe [14 May 2011]
Interest Rates Held at 0.5% once again [5 May 2011]
AS Macro: Extended House Price Deflation? [5 May 2011]
A2 Macro: Chinese investment in the EU [3 May 2011]
AS Micro: Rising Global Food Prices [2 May 2011]
Video Clips on the Chinese Economy [1 May 2011]
EU Enlargement - Evaluating the Impact [30 Apr 2011]
AS and A2 Macro Revision: Keynesian Economics [28 Apr 2011]
A2 Micro: EU Aviation - State Aid and State Ownership [28 Apr 2011]
AS and A2 Macro Revision: The China Effect [26 Apr 2011]
Focus on Ireland’s Economy [12 Apr 2011]
A2 Macro: Back to Roubini - a Year On! [11 Apr 2011]
OCR F585 June 2011: Euro Area on the Rocks? [11 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Monetary Policy Tightening [11 Apr 2011]
AS Micro: The volatile price of crude oil [9 Apr 2011]
A2 Macro: Paul Mason’s blogs on the Euro Crisis [7 Apr 2011]
ECB breaks rank and raises interest rates [7 Apr 2011]
EU Economics - Portugal Reaches for Bail Out [6 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Fiscal Austerity [6 Apr 2011]
Focus on Poland [5 Apr 2011]
Tutor2u Visits Madrid! [4 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Fiscal Deficit [3 Apr 2011]
A2 Micro: Updates on Competition Issues [2 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Relative deflation [2 Apr 2011]
OCR F585 June 2011: Competitiveness [31 Mar 2011]
OCR F585 June 2011: Data Charts (2) [30 Mar 2011]
OCR F585 June 2011: Data Charts [30 Mar 2011]
Poor human capital in Portugal [25 Mar 2011]
Keeping Track of UK Macro Objectives [18 Mar 2011]
Timetric: Currency movements against the Euro [16 Mar 2011]
Focus on Spain [16 Mar 2011]
Timetric: Comparative prices in the EU single market [15 Mar 2011]
EU Economics - Video Resources for Teaching [15 Mar 2011]
Focus on Japan - Human Catastrophe, Economic Risks [13 Mar 2011]
Timetric: Price convergence within the EU [13 Mar 2011]
Timetric: Unemployment Rates for Selected Countries [12 Mar 2011]
EU Economics: How far is the Eurozone away from being an OCA? [12 Mar 2011]
Dambisa Moyo - How the West was Lost [11 Mar 2011]

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