Ratings, Rating Agencies and the Global Financial System brings together the research of economists at New York University and the University of Maryland, along with those from the private sector, government bodies, and other universities. The first section of the volume focuses on the...

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- LIST OF TABLES -- LIST OF FIGURES -- LIST OF BOXES -- PREFACE -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- PREAMBLE: SOME INITIAL INTUITIONS ON FINANCIAL FRAGILITY AND THE FICKLE NATURE OF CONFIDENCE -- PART I. Financial Crises: An Operational Primer -- PART II. Sovereign External Debt...

Sovereign credit ratings play an important role in determining the terms and the extent to which countries have access to international capital markets. In principle, there is no reason why changes in sovereign credit ratings should be expected to systematically predict a currency crisis. In...