Each new downgrade of European debt by the big three rating agencies is greeted by European leaders and investors with a shrug. "The best books… are those that tell you what you know already," wrote George Orwell. Apparently policymakers have forgotten this mantra when it comes to rating agencies. Over the past year, each time one of the big agencies has reminded a large western nation of painfully obvious truths about the state of its finances, the agency has faced a torrent of criticism. On a recent Friday, when Standard & Poors (S&P) cut the ratings of nine European countries, politicians again took to the ... (full story)