WASHINGTON — The US credit rating could suffer a second calamitous downgrade — putting our nation on par with countries that are far tinier and have a reputation as tax shelters.
There’s a “1 in 3” chance that America’s rating will get knocked down another peg during the next two years because of political bickering, New York Standard & Poor’s Director John Chambers ominously warned yesterday. Chambers — the same bean counter who, The Post revealed, holds a degree in English literature, not economics — was at the helm when the credit-rating agency scrapped the government’s coveted AAA designation just three days ago.
“If the fiscal position of the United States deteriorates further or if the political gridlock becomes more entrenched, then that could lead to a downgrade,” Chambers yesterday said on ABC’s “This Week.”
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If a further downgrade does occur — from AA+ to AA — the United States would join the ranks of:
* Bermuda, which is known as a tax haven for big companies.
* Slovenia, which has a population of 2 million.
* Qatar, a Persian Gulf monarchy.
Even if politicians come together enough to satisfy the ratings agency, it could take “from nine years to 18 years” to regain the triple-A rating, Chambers said.
Yet the man who has his finger on the pulse of world finance appeared confused at times.
He didn’t seem to realize there’s a difference between the newly formed “Super Congress” — created as part of last week’s deal to raise the debt ceiling — and a presidential commission that is utterly toothless.
“We had a bipartisan commission, the Bowles-Simpson Commission, that had plenty of sensible recommendations, and it was a pity that those really weren’t followed through on,” Chambers said. The commission has no guarantee of an up-or-down vote on its findings.
The “Super Congress” has a trigger, however, that guarantees a vote by the full Congress and could force harsh spending cuts .
Markets were down from the Middle East to Asia.
Israel’s TA-25 index plunged 7 percent; Japan’s Nikkei was down 2.2 percent; China’s Shanghai Composite shed 3.7 percent; Seoul’s Kospi dropped 7.3 percent; Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tumbled 4 percent; Australia’s S&P/ASX-200 index fell 1.8 percent; New Zealand’s NZX 50 index was down 2.2 percent; and Singapore’s key index retreated 4 percent.
Additional reporting by Larry O’Connor and Tim Perone