U.S. Debt Downgraded (By Chinese Rating Agency)

Dagong, the Chinese firm that started rating sovereign debt earlier this year, has downgraded U.S. government debt.

U.S. debt is still widely considered to be among the safest investments in the world -- evidenced not only by high ratings from agencies in the West, but also by the super low interest rates that investors are willing to accept from U.S. Treasury bonds.

Still, the downgrade isn't terribly surprising, given the way the econo-geo-political winds are blowing at the moment.

Dagong (motto: "Value nothing but truth, credit and impartiality") issued a 10-page report to go with the downgrade.

Here's a key section:

The new round of quantitative easing monetary policy adopted by the Federal Reserve has brought about an obvious trend of depreciation of the U.S. dollar, and the continuation and deepening of credit crisis in the U.S. Such a move entirely encroaches on the interests of the creditors, indicating the decline of the U.S. government's intention of debt repayment.

And here's more of our coverage on quantitative easing and global currency tensions: