内容摘要：I am obliged to open with a disclaimer of sorts.

I am obliged to open with a disclaimer of sorts.

On Monday, benchmark 10-year yields – which influence mortgage rates and borrowing costs for companies and consumers – rose to more than 4.5 percent. They have come down a little since then. Longer dated 30-year bonds also saw a jump in yields.While Moody’s announcement sent jitters through US stock markets on Monday, they have largely recovered over the past two days. Gold, meanwhile, rallied almost 1 percent to $3,220 an ounce but then trended down on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Elsewhere, the value of thefell back against a basket of currencies. The British pound, for instance, rose to its highest level against the greenback since the start of May – to $1.35.Lower credit ratings typically lead to higher bond yields, which will raise interest rates on everything from mortgages to car loans to credit card debt because commercial banks use government bond yields as a basis for setting their own interest rates.

This is crucial for Americans, who are among the most highly indebted people in the world. In 2023, US household debt relative to GDP clocked in at 73 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund. Switzerland, Australia and Canada have household debt-to-GDP ratios in excess of 100 percent.If the US government continues to spend more on rising debt repayments, it will have less for public spending on things like Social Security, healthcare and defence as it becomes more costly for the government to sustain itself.

Washington could raise taxes to generate more revenue to pay down its debt. But Trump appears to be headed in the opposite direction – lowering both taxes and public spending.

Sovereign credit warnings, including last week’s, chip away at investor confidence. Losing AAA status from all three major rating agencies is a symbolic blow to American prestige.Aamiina said she has done her best with the children, but is mindful that their chances of integrating into a society outside the camp diminish rapidly as they grow older. She believes they must leave the camp soon if they are to stand a chance of living a normal life.

"It's sad because I came from Sweden. I don't even have Somali citizenship. [The children] are Swedish... and they are supposed to be there," she said.Then, with the guard distracted for a minute, Aamiina suddenly began speaking urgently in fluent Swedish.

"They [the guards] play nice now, but that’s not how they are with us," she said. "My son can’t go to the camp fence because he says they’ll shoot him."Roj, where 2,600 women and children are held, is a smaller and marginally cleaner version of the al-Hol camp, which holds about 40,000 people displaced by ISIL or related to ISIL fighters.