大西洋两边的政府最近都对于这些信用评级机构猛烈抨击。那么现在问题来了，到底是什么原因让这些经济体如此依赖于这些信用评级公司的呢？这些信用评级公司到底是什么呢？

The "big three" are Standard's & Poor's, Moody's Investor Services and Fitch Ratings. All originated in the United States, although Fitch has dual headquarters in New York and London.

这三大信用评级公司主要包括标准普尔，穆迪投资和芬奇评级。所有的这些公司都起源于美国，虽然芬奇在纽约和伦敦都有总部。

What do they do?他们平时干什么？

Before you can get a credit card, banks run a credit check on you. Similarly, the ratings agencies run credit checks on companies, countries and financial products.

就好比在你获得一张信用卡的时候银行会审查你的信用一样。这些评级机构对于公司和政府以及金融产品的信用进行评级。

Countries are rated on a sliding scale: the U.S., for example, has a top rating (AAA) which allows it to borrow cash at cheap interest rates. The lower the rating grade, however, the higher interest payments a nation must pay to attract investors to buy its bonds. Anything that slips to junk status -- as Ireland, Portugal and Greek government bonds are rated -- is considered a "highly speculative" investment. Furthermore, the pool of eligible investors is reduced -- many institutional investors, such as government pension funds, are forbidden to invest in junk-rated bonds.

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