There was, as you mentioned, a little gyration in the stock market today. So it's not as though institutional investors are going to be forced to sell off their government bonds. Even with this downgrade, the nation still has the nation's - still has the second-highest credit rating, AA+. HORSLEY: Well, the practical fallout may be limited. PFEIFFER: How much damage could this downgrade do? And now we have a former president who's been indicted on charges he tried to block the peaceful transfer of power - not really what you'd expect from a AAA-rated government. Not only are the two political parties increasingly polarized on fiscal issues, but you also had the January 6 attack on the Capitol. HORSLEY: Francis points to what he calls a steady deterioration in governance over the last couple of decades. It's just - I don't get a sense that there's willingness on either side of the table to make those painful choices. RICHARD FRANCIS: To really tackle the issues, you're going to have to look at some of the other big elephants in the room - whether it's raising taxes or somehow reforming entitlement programs. That deal did impose some modest limits on spending, but it didn't really address the country's big, longer-term fiscal challenges. Richard Francis, who helped conduct this analysis for Fitch, points to the recent deal the Biden administration struck with House Republicans to temporarily raise the debt ceiling.

What's more, there's not much sign of any improvement on the horizon. economy, that's almost three times what the average AAA-rated country owes. The rating agency notes that the government's now carrying about $32 trillion in debt. Fitch was motivated by a combination of big government deficits and political gridlock. Explain to us why Fitch took this action now. PFEIFFER: At a minimum, this is a symbolic blow for the government's finances. NPR's Scott Horsley is here to talk through the implications. And that caused minor tremors in the stock market today, although officials say the overall fallout should be limited.

The Fitch bond rating agency stripped the government of its AAA credit rating. government has been seen as a very trustworthy borrower, but that reputation got a black eye this week.

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