On Friday, Moody's joined Fitch and S&P to downgrade the credit rating of the U.S.’s sovereign debt from AAA to AA1, a notch below the highest score, over concerns with the nation's rising debt and deficits.

Nina Eichacker is a professor of economics at the University of Rhode Island. She joined “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal to talk about how bond markets are supposed to react when the chaos agent is the government itself.

To hear their conversation, use the audio player above.