The fall of Arthur Anderson, accounting giant and auditor extraordinaire, left many people feeling that no one is invulnerable to greed, bribery, and scandal. The two rating giants, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, are the “Arthur Andersons” of their field. Can we trust these ratings or must they be taken with the proverbial “grain of salt” and used in conjunction with other information sources? Do you feel these ratings truly reflect the financial stability of corporations?
When the federal government “shut down” in 2013, the media emphasized that politicians “came to their senses” only when Moody threatened to downgrade U.S. debt. Does that make the rating services a much more powerful entity than they should be?