Florence has been down-graded by Moody's. The city, its citizens, its region of Tuscany have been found guilty of spending that which does not belong to them: guilty of spending on beauty, truth, history, politics, the Renaissance; guilty of banking offences.
Their representatives, appearing before the Moody judges, caused instant protest.
"The guy over there is naked, and the boy in the little boots with the tip of his hat-feather up his ass is little better. Actually the women are half-naked, at best, too - Cover them up! Officer".
"Tried that, Sir. The clothes make them look- well, more suggestive - They go about like this all the time, everyone knows what they look like, so covering-up makes people kind of look more."
"They're part of this PIGS movement I expect. OK. Moving along - Is that a lion they've brought in?"
"Listen up. You are here for sentencing. (Can they understand? Speak American? We need translators here?)".
"Couldn't say, Sir. The one in the long skirt with the dark curly hair - he's a man, Sir, name of Machiavelli, - he's told them to be realistic and to lie to advantage when asked anything by the court."
"Don't want to get into questions of gender, or ethnicity or morals here - they wouldn't grasp it anyway. We'll just go straight to the sentencing. Are these the ones who burned our agent Savanorola after he tried to get them to cut their spending? Those terrorists? There's no statute of limitations on terrorism, 1498 or no. Right.
You will be taken from here to a place where your children will receive a good, moral American education. There they will learn to wear clothes and sing the national anthem with their hands on their hearts.
(Do they sing? Can they hold a tune?)
There you will learn that you must give to the world as well as take; that you must balance the books; and you will learn the meaning of debt.
You are condemned to spend the rest of your lives in Florence, Oregon.
And may God have mercy on your souls."
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4 comments:
Who pays for these ratings agencies anyway? Weren't they responsible for a lot of the mess we now find ourselves in? Can't somebody slip them a few more dollars to be a bit more cheerful?
The bond issuers pay (for all but one of them).
Their importance stems from laws/regulations imposed on bond investors.
It's a crackpot system, but they were pretty small players in the mess.
I can tell you who doesn't pay Moody's anymore, Nomad.
All contracts with Moody's held by the region of Tuscany have been cancelled this morning.
Whether the Veneto and Venice will follow isn't clear yet as they are busy with Carnevale this weekend.
Thank you both for your clarifications.
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