Dr Bryce Wilkinson: Increasing debt default risk won’t Make America Great Again

On 12 May, President Donald Trump's government spending and revenue bill was published. With characteristic panache, the President calls it his “Big Beautiful Bill”.

On 16 May, Moody's, a US credit rating agency, did something it had not done for over 100 years. It dropped its credit rating for US federal government debt from AAA to AA1. Meanwhile, eleven prosperous countries retain their AAA status – for now. They include Australia and New Zealand.