MUMBAI: About four months after Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s boys won the mighty Cricket World Cup for India, another man from Jharkhand has now shook up the world. 
On August 5, Standard & Poor’s, led by Jharkhand-born Deven Sharma, struck off the ‘AAA’ rating of the US, considered the Gold standard in the world of finance, for the first time since 1914.
On that Friday afternoon, S&P officials told Barak Obama’s treasury department that the ratings major’s analysts have come to a decision that the US no longer deserves to be among the best rated countries in the world. After six hours and a flurry of emails, phone calls and conferences between top officials in the Obama administration and Sharma’s team of number-crunchers, the world got to know of the unprecedented move – something that was in the air for a few months but which appeared more like a distant possibility: The US’ country rating was downgraded one notch to ‘AA-plus’. And suddenly the 57-year old Sharma was in the spotlight, hailed by a select few, but criticized by several in the financial world.
Sharma took over as the president of S&P in August 2007, just when the sub-prime crisis was getting out of hand, and rating agencies were picked as one of the perpetrators of the meltdown for their flawed ratings models of housing loans. Over the last four years as the head of one of the foremost rating agencies in the world, Sharma has faced several US Congressional grillings, but has negotiated most of those with much A©lan, people who have followed him say. In a recent interview, Sharma admitted that over the last four years, comments made by US lawmakers have changed to appreciation from criticism.
No wonder the veteran of several testimonies in the US congress has been able to stand up to the global criticism from all quarters for their critical decision. Since Friday evening, Sharma, along with David Beers, his top lieutenant on the ratings side, have stood firm alongside S&P’s analysts and defended the controversial and unprecedented decision saying that such a step was necessary and it was done for the benefit of investors.
Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
While the world criticized S&P for the move, back home there are some who think Sharma and his men have done a great job. The controversial head of a top brokerage house told TOI, that downgrade had to happen as it was due for years.
Late last month, in a Congressional hearing during the height of uncertainty about raising US debt limit, Sharma was non-committal about what ratings decision his company would take. A Bloomberg report said that he told US lawmakers that S&P was waiting to see what the final proposal would be before deciding whether to keep US debt at the firm’s highest ratings level.
Such a decision means that US is losing influence in the financial world and perhaps it’s time for USA to have a backup plan. The world saw recession in 2008, will it re-experience recession in 2011-12???
If USA loses influence in the financial markets, then who will rule the indicators of finances?
Moreover, recently, Bill Gates posted a note on his website: Can USA Avoid Bankruptcy?
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