the cacophony of sarcophagi (and other tales)

The Economist: "The perils for Nicolas Sarkozy in trying to preserve a credit rating"

Excerpt: “As the crisis deepens, an alarming prospect looms: that France’s own status could lapse, and thus its clout at the heart of the euro zone. France is by far the most vulnerable of the zone’s six AAA-rated countries. It has the highest level of debt as a share of GDP. Its banks are particularly exposed to the troubled periphery, especially Italy. The spread of French over German bonds recently hit its highest level since the launch of the euro (though it has fallen back a bit), suggesting that traders are already anticipating a downgrading. Moody’s, a ratings agency, has put France’s AAA rating under surveillance, with a reassessment due in January. Guillaume Menuet, an economist at Citigroup, expects a negative outlook on French sovereign debt within weeks, followed by a formal downgrade in 2012.”