In that article I explained how the major credit ratings agencies—Standard & Poor's (S&P), Moody's, and Fitch Ratings—act as adjuncts of the US State Department, targeting Uncle Sam's enemies with strategic credit downgrades at times that best serve Washington's interest.

As I pointed out at the time, the credit ratings agencies are the oft-overlooked tools of economic (let alone geopolitical) power. With a wave of their hand they can declare a tranche of toxic Mortgage-Backed Securities sludge to be a AAA prime investment opportunity—thus helping to blow a housing bubble and wreaking havoc in the economy—or downgrade the credit of a foreign treasury on a State Department hit list, hindering their ability to raise funds.