Three questions come to mind. First, who elected David Beers or his Moody\’s and Fitch counterparts? By what right do they decide on the fate of governments, economies, debts and peoples?
The answers being, in order, nobody and none.
Because you don\’t have to be elected in order to give your view of matters and giving your view of matters isn\’t deciding the fate of governments.
It\’s called free speech matey. Learn to live with it.
“But you shouldn’t be allowed to say the emperor has no clothes!!!”
The fate of peoples was decided on the day they voted for free goodies paid for by someone else.
Stuff ’em.
The guy only ever seems to talk nonsense. He seems to be everywhere too. The guraniad, LBC, Radio4, BBC, even Sky. There seems no escaping his nonsense.
Shoot the messenger.
Or hermicide as it’s known.
I saw some Kraut oik on the telly yesterday, shrieking that the markets were wrong. He didn’t explain how he came to have a hotline to God who (presumably) vouchsafed him this info.
I caught the second half of a ‘debate’ on the BBC W.S. this morning re the S&P US downgrade. Of course the debaters agreed that S&P were evil and had only acted because they hated Democrats.
Apparently, to save Europe from the evil rating agencies we need one to be set up by the EU. Yes, to get reliable advice on the credit rating of European sovereign debt we need an organisation set up, funded and controlled by European politicians. What could possibly go wrong?!
@Josh, “hermicide”. Absolutely brilliant! I have just googled it, and the first time it appears – other than as a typo for herbicide – is by you on this page. You appear to have coined a much needed term.
It’s not free speech if the SEC demands it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationally_recognized_statistical_rating_organization
Yes, they have power and no one voted for them.
Just like someone who is the political editor of one of the 2 major UK political magazines, regularly appears on the BBC, sky News, radio, speaks at political rallies, and regularly writes for the major national newspapers (mainly the Guardian). Someone who has power, and who know one voted for.
It frequently escapes the attention of pro-EUers that Fitch, one of the big 3 rating agencies, is French- owned.
Hermicide is going in the book. Josh, that is off-the-scale brilliant.
As Stuck-Record noted, journalists complaining about unelected bodies wielding influence is a supreme act of hypocrisy. Thus Kipling had it: “Power without responsibility – the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages.”
Next week: Hassan calls for the abolishment of Alcohol Concern, the Guardian, the BBC, Amnesy International, the BMA, er, etc.
None of those elected, all have huge power and influence.
It would be fun to see the UK rating lowered like the US one. I would bet a pund to a pinch of shit that all the ones that are slagging of S&P now, would then see them as infallible and the lower rating as proof that the Torycutz were evil and not working.
It’s not just free speech though, is it?
Governments have created a privileged position for the big three ratings agencies, under which they are allowed to give their opinion with no legal responsibility (because, in that context, it’s considered free speech rather than professional advice) – but at the same time following rating agencies’ opinions *is* considered to satisfy a fund manager’s legal responsibility (because, in that context, a credit rating is considered to be more worthy advice than Some Dude Who Wrote A Thing).
Ending that position would be a good idea.