Credit rating agencies have been among the whipping boys of the financial crisis. They have been criticised for what they were responsible for – awarding triple A ratings to securitised debt products they did not understand. They have been criticised for what they were not responsible for – investors' overreliance on ratings to guide investments. And they have been criticised for their “issuer pays” business model, which even agencies admit is riddled with conflicts of interest. But, until recently, they had not been criticised as investments. David Einhorn, the hedge fund manager who questioned Lehman's solvency, revealed last week he held a large Moody's short position.
信用評級機構一直是本輪金融危機的替罪羊之一。在對它們的批評中，有些它們負有責任——將AAA評級授予它們并不了解的證券化債務產品；有些它們沒有責任——投資者過分依賴評級來指導自己的投資。它們“由發行商付費”的業務模式也受到了批評——就連評級機構也承認，這種模式充滿了利益沖突。但直到最近，還沒有人將它們作為投資而提出批評。曾對雷曼(Lehman)的償債能力提出質疑的對沖基金經理戴維?埃霍恩(David Einhorn)上周透露，他持有大量穆迪(Moody's)空頭頭寸。