U.S. credit rating downgraded: What this means for Arizonans

The United States’ credit rating just got downgraded.

Fitch Ratings — one of the three major U.S. credit agencies — cut the country’s AAA rating to AA+ recently. One main reason: the credit rating agency cited the January 6 insurrection and the close call on almost not lifting the debt ceiling in time as reasons for reducing the credit rating.

Other reasons include spiraling deficits and the two political parties’ unwillingness to come together to tackle long-term spending and fiscal issues facing America, such as Social Security and Medicare.

We spoke with Geoffrey Smith, a clinical professor at ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business, to learn more about what this could mean for Arizonans.