We have now seen the first major economic impact of Bidenomics – and it is a disaster. On August 1st, Fitch Ratings downgraded the United States’ credit rating from triple-A to AA+. That may not seem like much if you were grading a college term paper, but it has an enormous impact on the ability and cost of borrowing – to finance the National Debt or your next car.
This is the second time a credit rating service has downgraded the United States to AA+. In 2011, Standard & Poor’s announced a similar downgrade. Now, only Moody’s maintains America’s triple-A rating.
The primary reason for the downgrade is the fear that the United States will not be able to pay off the growing debt in the future. As with the average person, there comes a time when an increasing debt load makes it impossible to pay it off. With regard to personal debt, it is often referred to as the “credit trap” – that point when the debt service (interest) cannot be paid on a timely basis. That is when folks generally go into bankruptcy. That is when a nation defaults.
It can be said that the lower rating was due to Washington’s reckless spending policies over a long period of time. The 2011 downgrade did little to nothing to get Congress to take excessive spending seriously. The immediate cause of the Fitch downgrade was … President Biden’s irresponsible big spending at a time cuts were needed. The flame that lit the powder keg was Bidenomics.
In response, an angry White House blamed the downgrade on Trump and the political chaos coming out of the January 6 Capital Hill riot. With Biden’s own ratings in the toilet – and his prospective ability to beat Trump in a 2024 match-up in question – the White House will blame everything on Trump.
That is a dog that will no longer hunt. Just as the decision to surrender in Afghanistan was solely Biden’s, the decision to engage in reckless spending at a time the debt was burgeoning was Biden’s exclusively. It was his proposals against the warnings of Republicans and conservatives that blew away America’s triple-A rating.
This will have a negative impact on interest rates up and down the line. More than on Uncle Sam’s borrowing. It will affect state and local government, corporations, banks, and individuals. Interest rates on car loans and mortgages are destined to rise. As business pays more interest, those costs are passed on to the consumer in the form of price increases. If you use credit cards for purchases, you will be paying more at the counter and paying more interest to the credit card companies.
Ironically, it will require the federal government to either increase taxes or borrow even more at higher interest rates. In either case, it is the American taxpayer who will suffer. The downgrade is likely to suppress the stock market and even impact on unemployment.
The American economy is large enough and strong enough to endure the drop in credit rating for the time being. But there will be a lot of collateral damage. It will not trigger an immediate economic catastrophe – but will move us closer to one. Nations – such as China and Russia – who are working to take down the dollar as the world currency will now be further emboldened. Their arguments against the United States have been empowered to a greater degree.
Understandably, the White House strongly disagrees with the Fitch decision. The President has been described as “very angry.” In a reality defying statement, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the Fitch downgrade … “defies reality.” Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said that the decision was “arbitrary and based on outdated data.”
Just for giggles, Yellen also blamed “Republican extremism.” That makes sense only if you believe that limited spending and fiscal responsibility is extremely repugnant to the tax (borrow)-and-spend progressive Democrats.
To use one of Biden’s memorable past comments, this is a “big (effing) deal.” However, if you are an acolyte of left-wing media, you may not even know about this event. They see their job as burying any bad news if it reflects negatively on Biden or the radical left.
If the downgrade has ANY conceivable positive impact, it could — just could – get policymakers to act more responsibly with the taxpayers’ money. Just do not hold your breath.
So, there ‘tis.