certainly I’m not an expert on these things, but I thought sovereign debt was always rated AAA, *in the currency of that country*? The US government, just like Zimbabwe, can always print more of its own currency, so the risk of default, *in that currency* is negligible.

Whether those dollars will actually be worth anything to anyone else is a separate question, and not one the AAA rating for US dollars actually answers.

A bunch of folks got caught like this in the last crash I think; discovering that a AAA investment in Ferritstan golden pelts didn’t actually equal a AAA investment in another currency… of course it’s a little surprising to see the US in the same situation, but as I understand it the ratings agency is correct.

- Chris