S&P Downgrades Belgium

An AA is good, but not as good as an AA+, as Belgium learned Friday. Standard & Poor's downgraded the European nation's credit rating in response to pressure from a risky market. The financial-services company explained: "We think the Belgian government's capacity to prevent an increase in general government debt, which we consider to be already at high levels, is being constrained by rapid private-sector deleveraging both in Belgium and among many of Belgium's key trading partners."