Friday, January 15, 2016

The hypocrites squeeze Poland.

Standard and Poor has downgraded Poland's long-term credit rating to BBB+ from A-.

They cry crocodile tears over stuff that has at best a tenuous relationship to Poland's creditworthiness. S&P is very concerned that "a law that moves the power to appoint the management and supervisory board of public broadcasters to the Treasury Ministry significantly weakens the independence of these institutions and has the potential to make them political instruments . . . ."[1]

Far from this being an action taken based on any legit concern for the quality of Polish debt, it's retaliation against "Poland's new Eurosceptic government [for comparing] the EU and Merkel to Nazis."[2]

An outrageous comparison!

S&P can next concern themselves with German debt in view of its

But S&P is up in arms over Poland's
  • new media law giving "the government extensive powers to appoint and control the directors and supervisory boards of public broadcasters";
  • changes to the "composition and decision-making process" of Poland's constitutional court, and
  • the termination of contracts of "all current senior, career civil servants" and removal of "a constraint regarding previous party membership, therefore enabling the new government to change the structure of the civil service.
The fake concern for Polish media law is laughable in view of the first bulleted list above. The handwringing over the last two points is similarly pathetic given the oppression and fraud of the German government.

What bearing any of the three objections have on something to do with the creditworthiness of Poland is anybody's guess.

The real issue is stated aptly by Tyler Durden:

. . . S&P is now nothing more than a lackey for Brussels, threatening to send Polish yields higher if Poland does not fall in line.[3]
Oppose the E.U. at your own risk.

Notes
[1] "S&P Enters The Latest European Scandal: Downgrades Poland From A- To BBB+." By Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge, 1/15/16.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.

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