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.
信用评级机构一直是本轮金融危机的替罪羊之一。在对它们的批评中，有些它们负有责任——将AAA评级授予它们并不了解的证券化债务产品；有些它们没有责任——投资者过分依赖评级来指导自己的投资。它们“由发行商付费”的业务模式也受到了批评——就连评级机构也承认，这种模式充满了利益冲突。但直到最近，还没有人将它们作为投资而提出批评。曾对雷曼(Lehman)的偿债能力提出质疑的对冲基金经理戴维•埃霍恩(David Einhorn)上周透露，他持有大量穆迪(Moody's)空头头寸。