Let's assume that the U.S. government raises the debt ceiling, and the country keeps paying its bills next month.
It's still very possible that one or more rating agencies will downgrade the country's credit rating.
On today's show we ask: Would a downgrade matter?
We revisit a question we asked last year: How do you rate a country?
And we talk to one expert who says a downgrade of America's credit rating would make for splashy headlines, but would likely have a relatively small impact. Most of America's debt is held by big institutional investors — and those investors do their own research, and don't tend to be swayed much by what rating agencies say.
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