Part 5/10:
An even more alarming development was the downgrade of the US credit outlook by Moody's from stable to negative. The rating agency cited political polarization and irresponsibly growing deficits as primary concerns threatening the country's creditworthiness. Moody's highlighted the risk that ongoing political deadlock in Congress may prevent meaningful fiscal measures to curb rising debt levels, which could further jeopardize the US's AAA rating.