After Standard & Poor's downgraded the US credit rating for the first time last week, President Barack Obama held a press conference in which he declared, “We've always been, and always will be, a triple-A country.” But the message did little to reassure investors or stem a massive sell-off of US stocks this past Monday, which marked Wall Street's worst day since the 2008 financial crisis.
As political leaders deal with growing investor fears that the country may relapse into another ...