CCWE Hosts Seminar with Standard & Poor’s Chairman of Global Sovereign Ratings

On March 30, 2012, Tsinghua University Center for China in the World Economy (CCWE) hosted a seminar with Mr. John Chambers, Managing Director and Chairman of Global Sovereign Ratings, Standard & Poor’s (S&P). The seminar, which was led by CCWE Director David Daokui Li, also featured several members of S&P, including Greater China President Chew Ping, as well as several finance professionals and academics from China. The discussion focused primarily on S&P’s process and methodology for the rating of sovereigns, as well as S&P’s outlook for specific countries. In terms of the eurozone, Mr. Chambers expressed that he believes the problem is more of a balance of payments problem than a fiscal problem. In terms of the United States, he explained that the previous downgrade and possible future downgrades are due to political reasons, not fiscal reasons, as the two political parties have very different opinions on how to resolve the country’s fiscal problems, and as a result cannot reach an agreement.