“Who is Egan-Jones? Do they matter?”
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What matters is that they are absolutely correct, and everyone with ANY economic aptitude knows it.
In fact, I would say they are markedly UNDERstating the case for downgrading the USSA.
Some firms get paid for their ratings by investors in their company. Others get paid by the people they rate.
Egan doesn’t get paid by those they are rating, so they have a higher probability of being independent in their thinking.