S&P rebaja la calificación a AA con perspectiva negativa - La Bolsa se hunde, pero la prima de riesgo resiste - El Gobierno cree que la rebaja tendrá un efecto limitado

La agencia de calificación deja la solvencia española en AA con perspectiva negativa. Las otras dos agencias, Fitch y Moody's, mantienen la máxima calificación para la deuda española.

European Union officials Wednesday were unable to mask their frustration with the downgrade of Greek debt by Standard & Poor's to junk status.

Add this to the list of reasons German taxpayers are unhappy about having to lend Greece money to ease its debt crisis: In effect, they already have.

As Greece inches closer to the brink of financial collapse, fear that the debt crisis will spread is engulfing Europe.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's strategy for dealing with Greece's untenable debt problem was to stall and hope the crisis did not demand action until after a critical state election in early May. On Wednesday, the clock finally ran out.

Europe will eventually grow tired of bailing out its weaker countries. The Germans will probably pull that plug first. The longer we wait to see fiscal probity established, at the European Central Bank and the European Union, and within each nation, the more debt will be built up, and the more dangerous the situation will get. When the plug is finally pulled, at least one nation will end up in a painful default; unfortunately, the way we are heading, the problems could be even more widespread.