General Chat

I saw that too Vera, The chap (forgive me I did not get his name, but recall he was the "expert) was very interesting Louise Minchin asked him if tax payers/people in general would be affected i.e. mortgages cost of living etc, he most emphatically said no they will no be affected, we will have to wait and see.

I saw a piece on Breakfast TV this morning that said downgrading usually means that it is more expensive for a country to borrow money but the USA and France were both downgraded in 2011 and their borrowing rates didn't increase.

Good point, Errol. Think I remember Osborne some months ago saying it would not matter to our "recovery" if we were no longer AAA.

And the distinguished economist Paul Merton said at the same time the economy might run just the same on another type of battery :-S

It probably won't have a major impact because it has been anticipated for so long anyway

Neither George Osborne or David Cameron will be very pleased about this and I think it will mean more austerity with deeper cuts, Both George Osborne and David Cameron stated that we should judge their handling of the economy on them being able to borrow money at cheaper rates than other countries because they had protected our Triple AAA credit rating. It will be interesting to see what spin they both put on this.

Don't forget we are all in this together, trouble is that as usual some will be in clover and the rest will be in quick sands sinking into an an abyss :-|

:-D :-D as if

:-D :-D Why not put what you really feel about it, lilybids :-D

Do you know John I haven't a clue :-S and don't bl**dy care

Does anyone know what influence this downgrading will have on our lives? I rather think it will mean we will have to pay more to borrow money - both as a country and as individuals.

So less to spend on NHS and other vital things like welfare. And individual purses being hit by higher mortgage payments.

It certainly means that Moody's are suggesting to the major investors round the world that Canada and Germany are better places to invest in than USA or UK.

There is something that Canada and Germany now have that no other major world power has got.

A universally good AAA credit rating.

The UK has lost its top AAA credit rating for the first time since 1978 on expectations that growth will "remain sluggish over the next few years".

The ratings agency Moody's became the first to cut the UK from its highest rating, to Aa1.