Help power Marketplace this winter when you support the show today. Donate Now!

Weekly Wrap: Europe downgrade, JPMorgan

Kai Ryssdal Jan 13, 2012

Leigh Gallagher and Cardiff Garcia discuss the latest European downgrade and whether the U.S. is going into recovery.

What the downgrade of France means:

Leigh Gallagher: It means a lot more when we’re talking about Europe because this is just so much bigger and it’s not going anywhere. We’ve known that for months — in December, S&P actually put all these countries on warning, so we’ve really been on guard for this. But even so, today really did have a feel of a Black Friday.

On Wall Street’s tepid response:

Cardiff Garcia: I don’t think it went haywire for a number of reasons, but the one thing is that I don’t think Wall Street was that shocked by it. We had some sense that it was coming. I also don’t know that the impact is going to be so bad — it is only one credit rating agency. It might complicate things a little further — France is one of the countries that also guarantees the European bailout facility. So it’s just one more thing.

For more analysis, listen to the full audio above.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.