Digital platforms and demand for services are fueling growth in the number of freelancers and independent workers in the US. These workers would likely feel the effects of an economic downturn more acutely than employees at traditional companies.

The decline in the Selic reference rate will help further stimulate capital market activity and benefit interest-rate sensitive sectors such as utilities and infrastructure.

A one-time student loan forgiveness policy would provide a near-term fiscal stimulus to the economy and support the retail sector. It would be negative for private student loan lenders.

Low and uncertain economic growth increases the vulnerability of the region’s sovereigns to shocks and together with other factors constrains the credit profiles of the region's sovereigns.

The government’s debt burden is declining at a faster pace than we previously anticipated, supported by falling interest costs and the containment of expenditures. At the same time, the banking system is becoming more robust.

CLOs with high shares of such companies rated B3 or lower in their portfolio are at greater risk of abrupt credit deterioration than other CLOs.

Our credit view for Thailand reflects the sovereign's very strong public and external finances, as well as lingering political risk and demographics and labour skills challenges.

Our credit view of Argentina reflects its large and relatively wealthy economy against rising policy uncertainty and the risk it poses for increased financing pressures and eroding buffers.

The US administration has postponed a portion of its planned new tariffs on Chinese imports, but they remain a credit negative for US companies and retailers within the affected industries.

On 5 August 2019, the US designated China a currency manipulator. The move is likely to lead to a hardening in the trade dispute between the countries, and slower expansion in both economies, a credit negative for the sovereigns.

Trade tensions are escalating amid already decelerating growth in the US, euro area and China, with the uncertainty likely to weaken business investment and trade flows.

We believe that many potentially affected retailers, especially the larger names, have taken steps in recent years to diversify their supply chains, thus reducing reliance on China.

Recurring and long-lasting protests that disrupt economic activity but allow the broad functioning of the government fall within our political risk scores and Hong Kong’s credit profile.

The majority vote for Alberto Fernandez in Argentina’s recent primary elections resulted in a 15% depreciation of the Argentine peso, weakening the country’s economic prospects for the remainder of 2019.

While not our baseline, an escalation of military conflict in Kashmir would weaken growth and hurt fiscal consolidation efforts in India and Pakistan.

The election of Boris Johnson as the UK’s new prime minister has increased the risk of a “no-deal Brexit. Our view remains that a no-deal Brexit would have significantly negative credit effects for the UK sovereign and related issuers.

Greater adoption of 3D printing technology will likely usher in major changes over time for certain industries, with implications for companies' profitability and market shares.

Advances in artificial intelligence will likely result in more pernicious disinformation campaigns targeting businesses and financial markets, with potential negative credit effects.

Capital One's data breach is credit negative and will have an adverse effect on the company’s reputation.

Minimally invasive procedures can shorten hospital stays, while data monitoring and data analytics can predict adverse events. But cyber risk is increasing and tech giants are moving in.

US lawmakers and regulators continue to take aim at prescription drug prices, adding new fuel to a key social risk overhanging the sector. Their most recent proposals, if adopted, would increase financial risk by pressuring prices.

After a second consecutive year of large wildfire losses in 2018, P&C insurers are responding by boosting their pricing, and re-underwriting policies, and reconsidering wildfire models.

In this podcast, Simone Andrews and Brendan Sheehan of the ESG team discuss Moody’s analytical framework for assessing corporate governance risk for publicly traded non-financial companies.​

We expect renewable energy investment in Australia — including distributed energy generation and storage — to continue, as will customer demand for the ability to export that distributed energy through smart networks.