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The U.S. government’s credit rating could be downgraded even further, according to the rating agency that removed the United States from a list of top-tier creditworthy nations.
Standard and Poor’s judgement
Days after Standard and Poor’s made headlines across the globe by saying the United States no longer merits its highest AAA credit rating, the firm’s managing director, John Chambers1, says another downgrade cannot be ruled out if America’s worsening fiscal2 imbalances do not improve.
“If the fiscal position of the United States deteriorates3 further, or if the political gridlock becomes more entrenched4, then that could lead to [another] downgrade.
Speaking on ABC’s This Week television program, Chambers put the chances of a further credit downgrade at one-in-three. But he also noted5 that it is possible for nations to regain6 their AAA rating if they demonstrate fiscal restraint over a period of years.
US & World's markets
The possibility of another downgrade can hardly reassure7 nervous stockholders. Even before Standard and Poor’s announcement late Friday, investors8 showed their willingness to sell off stocks. U.S. and other markets suffered some of their steepest losses of the year last week.
But market jitters9 stem from more than U.S. fiscal woes10, according to the head of Standard and Poor’s government debt rating unit, David Beers.
“A lot of what is worrying the markets is the unfolding story in Europe, and also a perception from a global economic perspective that the world economy may be slowing down," he said. "So I think the markets are reacting to a lot of factors, not just what S&P [Standard and Poor’s] said on Friday.”
US debt
The U.S. national debt stands at $14.3 trillion, the cumulative11 total of annual federal deficits13. Last week, President Barack Obama signed a bill to raise the federal borrowing limit and shave more than $2 trillion from the deficit12 over ten years. In the months leading up to the agreement, Democratic and Republican negotiators were unable to agree on a more ambitious, $4 trillion deficit-reduction goal, with Republicans adamantly14 opposed to any tax hikes and Democrats15 reluctant to force savings16 from costly17 programs that provide income and health care for retirees.
Partisan18 finger-pointing has been rampant19 in Washington in recent months, and continued after the S&P downgrade. Appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation program, top Obama political strategist David Axelrod placed the blame on the Tea Party faction20 of the Republican Party. Axelrod noted that some Tea Party members of Congress refused to support any deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, even if doing so risked a U.S. default on its debt obligations.
“They played brinksmanship with the full faith and credit of the United States. This is essentially22 a Tea Party downgrade," said Axelrod. "The Tea Party brought us to the brink21 of a default.”
Not so, according to Congressman23 Paul Ryan, chairman of the Budget Committee in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Ryan noted that the House passed a budget that would have slashed24 the federal deficit by more than $5 trillion over 10 years, but that the bill was blocked in the Democratically-controlled Senate. He blamed out-of-control federal spending for the credit downgrade.
“It is because Washington has not gotten its fiscal house in order. We [Republicans] passed a budget.”
In downgrading U.S. creditworthiness, Standard and Poor’s listed Washington’s seeming inability to overcome partisan gridlock as sapping faith in the nation’s ability to confront its fiscal challenges.
The Obama administration has accused S&P of using faulty math in its assessment25, saying the firm overestimated26 the projected rise in the national debt by $2 trillion.
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1 chambers | |
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅 | |
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2 fiscal | |
adj.财政的,会计的,国库的,国库岁入的 | |
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3 deteriorates | |
恶化,变坏( deteriorate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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4 entrenched | |
adj.确立的,不容易改的(风俗习惯) | |
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5 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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6 regain | |
vt.重新获得,收复,恢复 | |
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7 reassure | |
v.使放心,使消除疑虑 | |
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8 investors | |
n.投资者,出资者( investor的名词复数 ) | |
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9 jitters | |
n.pl.紧张(通常前面要有the) | |
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10 woes | |
困境( woe的名词复数 ); 悲伤; 我好苦哇; 某人就要倒霉 | |
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11 cumulative | |
adj.累积的,渐增的 | |
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12 deficit | |
n.亏空,亏损;赤字,逆差 | |
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13 deficits | |
n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 );赤字;亏空;亏损 | |
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14 adamantly | |
adv.坚决地,坚定不移地,坚强不屈地 | |
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15 democrats | |
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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16 savings | |
n.存款,储蓄 | |
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17 costly | |
adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的 | |
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18 partisan | |
adj.党派性的;游击队的;n.游击队员;党徒 | |
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19 rampant | |
adj.(植物)蔓生的;狂暴的,无约束的 | |
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20 faction | |
n.宗派,小集团;派别;派系斗争 | |
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21 brink | |
n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘,边沿 | |
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22 essentially | |
adv.本质上,实质上,基本上 | |
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23 Congressman | |
n.(美)国会议员 | |
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24 slashed | |
v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 );鞭打;割破;削减 | |
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25 assessment | |
n.评价;评估;对财产的估价,被估定的金额 | |
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26 overestimated | |
对(数量)估计过高,对…作过高的评价( overestimate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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