msbpodcast says:

Moodys’, Standard & Poor’s (where a cousin worked,) Fitch Ratings, and the other credit rating agencies across the world* (there’s not a shit-load of them,) have a sweet deal going because they constantly review all of the credit ratings they issue.

Money, aka currency, aka debt in lieu of cash, is fungible, meaning that it can be easily exchanged one for another, commodities (like bushels of wheat or tons of bauxite) can be traded on some unit basis one (say valued as constant/instant US Dollars) for another (like hookers and blow,) valued on the same basis.

The value of one fungible currency is constantly being rated** against the value of another fungible currency, and it gets far more complicated when you take futures*** into consideration.

The value of a dollar tomorrow will probably now be the same as it is today. It will certainly be worth less, if not be worthless, than it is today since its value is a function of its desirability and if the US defaults on its obligations then the US Dollar less desirable, on its way to being as desirable as the Zimbabwean dollar.

The problem comes when you get into an argument over what you say is the unit (a ton of bauxite) against what someone else says is the unit (a fine 750ml bottle of Mouton Cadet, Baron Phillipe de Rothschild.)

Wars have been fought over these disagreements, but then again, wars have been fought between the German Junkers and the Hungarian Royal Family over pig marketing rights in Silesia. (as reported by Winston Churchill in “The Great War“.)

*) [Right out of The Book of Knowledge:

Agencies that assign credit ratings for corporations include:
A. M. Best (U.S.)
Baycorp Advantage (Australia)
Capital Standards Rating (Kuwait)[32]
Credo line (Ukraine)
Dagong Global (People’s Republic of China)
Dominion Bond Rating Service (Canada)
Egan-Jones Rating Company (U.S.)
Fitch Ratings (Dual-headquartered U.S./UK)
Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. (Japan)[33]
Moody’s Investors Service (U.S.)
Muros Ratings[34] (Russia alternative rating agency)
Standard & Poor’s (U.S.)
Weiss Ratings (U.S.)
There are no notable European CRAs, except for Fitch, 80% of which is owned by FIMALAC, a French firm.

**) That is where the list above makes its money, if you’re not constantly being monitored and rated, you’re assumed to not be worth the investment.

***) Futures seem to require necromancy to evaluate, (the sacrificing of virgins and the augury skills of a fortune teller when reading the entrails of the late young ladies.)

The risks inherent in any situation take on the shape of a bell curve. They are are low when looking at the immediacy of logistics and again at the long-term of strategics but can scare the crap out of you when looking at the operational details in between.

deowll says:

We have plenty of money but the way we spend it wouldn’t do credit to a nine year old.

Raising the debt ceiling is going to fix nothing. We have to stop spending more than we take in before our creditors turn us off or raise the interest charged to the moon. At that point we will have rioting in the streets because we won’t be able to engage in international trade. 60% less gasoline in the good old US anyone? No more Ianything. No more imports except on the barter system. Your SS check will buy you nothing.

The Obama plan is spend and tax until we all go to bleep. The Harry R. plan is spend until we all go to bleep. The Dems haven’t passed a budget in three years. The budget Obama sent to Congress got no votes. The next budget could not be scored it was such a piece of crap so they couldn’t vote on it.

Obama and Gatner claim to be the great compromisers. They won’t agree to anything other than tax and spend more we take in. They don’t have a plan to prevent national catastrophe and they are simply acting like bleeps.

Please do not confuse this with approving what the Repubs are doing. I just find their economic policies to be less destructive to the nation for the moment.

That they still think we need to spend trillions so we can have our forces occupying much of the third world is nuts. When the money runs out, which it will in a few years max, those forces are all going to come home if they can get home.