AAA, Ba3, Ca, CCC... they look like some kind of hyper-active school report.
They are, indeed, a marking system, and one that is designed to inform interested parties.
The letter formations are given to large-scale borrowers, whether companies or governments, and tell the buyers of this debt how likely they are to be able to get it back.
The score card also affects the amount that should be charged by way of return on that borrowing.
These letters have been all over the coverage of the financial impact of the crisis besetting the eurozone.
A change to the score means a change to the amount a borrower must pay its debt-holders, something that can make it more expensive to borrow as investors demand a higher rate of return for taking on more risky debt.
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