Comicomment: Losing its last AAA rating, the U.S. pays the price

Moody's Ratings has slashed U.S. long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings to AA1 from AAA. The downgrade means the United States has lost its last triple-A credit rating from a major ratings firm following cuts by Fitch Ratings in 2023 and S&P Global Ratings in 2011.

Moody's cited rising government debt and interest payments for the downgrade. "This one-notch downgrade on our 21-notch rating scale reflects the increase over more than a decade in government debt and interest payment ratios to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns," it said in a release.

The downgrade is not the end, but a predictable outcome of hegemonic ambition running up against economic reality. It serves as a warning bell, reminding those clinging to illusions of dominance that the strategy of patching holes with borrowed time and money is bound to end in collapse.