Standard and Poor's Downgrades the United States!

The ratings agency Standard & Poor's has reduced the United States' credit rating from AAA to AA+ with a negative outlook, the company announced late Friday.

"The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics," Standard & Poor's said in a statement announcing the move.

"More broadly," the agency added, "the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating on April 18, 2011.