Yesterday’s news was that the credit rating agency Fitch affirmed Hungary’s credit rating in the “junk grade”.    They really didn’t bother much about the steadily improving macroeconomic figures Hungary has been producing recently (the budget deficit being firmly below 3%, GDP growth becoming stronger than  expected, a big trade balance surplus, Hungary’s stopping the growth of its public debt, the slightly decreasing unemployment rate while the  economic activity is increasing (!), the all time low inflation rate or the steady demand for Hungary’s treasury bills at an all time low base rate, etc.).  The key sentence in their report must have been this: “Fiscal discipline contrasts with unpredictable economic policies, especially with respect to the banking and utilities sectors.”  In other words:  the Financial Empire strikes back.

Where’s the red bean? (aka the shell game)

Let’s note that the big (US-based) credit rating agencies (Fitch, Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s) …