Trouble-A

The ratings agencies are the whipping boys for the credit crunch. They certainly deserve some of the blame. But what sort of punishment? The knee-jerk reaction of politicians on both sides of the Atlantic will be to pile on the red tape. Barney Frank, chairman of the House financial services committee, and Charlie McCreevy, the European Union’s internal market commissioner, are limbering up for a fight. But more regulation would be exactly the wrong response. The agencies’ semi-official status ...