The higher the rating, the more likely the investor can trust that principal and interest payments will arrive on time. Indeed, global investors use the interest rate on US Treasury bonds to determine the interest rate on other countries’ bonds. Consider the recent battle over increasing the Treasury debt limit and looming prospects for a government shutdown later this year. These so-called governance issues are central to Fitch’s decision to downgrade the nation’s debt. The last time was in the early 1990s when interest payments on the debt ballooned, and the fiscal outlook darkened.

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Persons: Mark Zandi, CNN —, Fitch, “, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, we’ve, Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, Lore, Winston Churchill Organizations: Moody’s, CNN, AAA, Mark Zandi CNN, Treasury, European Union, US Treasury, Twitter, Facebook, Democrat, Republican, British