Just what does a debt-laden, dysfunctional US economy have to do to get a ratings downgrade?

What exactly does a debt-laden, politically dysfunctional major economy have to do to get a ratings downgrade around here?

In 2011, the U.S. earned the ignominious distinction of being the first of several post-financial crisis era economies to be stripped of a triple-A credit rating. Yet since then, Washington has lurched from one budget crisis to the next, with no plan for arresting the growing federal debt burden.

In spite of those factors, the ratings agency triumvirate of Moody's, Fitch and Standard & Poor's — the only firm to actually mete out a U.S. downgrade thus far — have been strangely reluctant to pull the trigger on another ratings cut.

Even still, America's problems — including political paralysis, oceans of red ink and stunted growth — are mounting.

The refusal to cut the U.S. again is curious, given that the Sword of Damocles has already fallen on both Britain and France — the euro zone's second-largest economy, which has been downgraded on two separate occasions by two different ratings firms. Read more >>