I know my AAABC

I like working on Saturdays. It’s just me and one other co-worker – if I’m really lucky, I’m alone. We listen to music, watch TV, chat, and take it much easier than we do on week days – I must admit, it’s not high intensity during week days either. Every Saturday, I am in at work – usually tired, sometimes hungover.

This brings us to Saturday last week. Once again, I was on time despite feeling crappy and annoyed because of some random man on the tube blocking my way. So I started getting comfy – shoes off, TV on. At work, we tend to watch cooking shows, but this time we watched the news.

Now I must admit that I have been sort of avoiding the news in the past few months; the Brexit issue has become a bit too hot for me. Every time I hear Brexit and Brexit-adjacent news, I react in a somewhat unmeasured way – “Well if you want to break up with me, just say it already!” (with French accent). It’s a touchy one.

What caught my attention – between the Excel spreadsheets and emails to forward – was the credit rating downgrading of the UK. Credit ratings, basically, answer the question “will they be able to pay back their debt?” If yes, AAA. If no, CCC (or lower depending who’s giving the score). And then, you’ve got various scores in between. There are agencies that give those scores to countries, like Standard and Poor’s or Moody’s.

The latter decided that the UK did not deserve its top Aaa score anymore. So the UK was given the next one down: Aa2. For reference, Germany has Aaa, France has Aa2 as well, Japan has A1, so lower, and Greece, that has been in a bit of trouble for a while, has Caa2, so, much lower.

You may ask why, oh why did the UK not deserve its good good grade? Well, that’s where we go back to Brexit. Moody’s fear that the UK economy will be weakened by it – who could blame them after the drop in the value of the pound that we’ve been seeing since the referendum.

There are 2 big issues I can see with this downgrading. The first one is simple, it just sounds like a good excuse for austerity. Let me explain: a lower credit score can mean higher interest rates for a country on the international borrowing market, so it’s more expensive to get money. Credit score ratings also tend to go up when the national deficit is a lower percentage of the GDP – gross domestic produce, so how much a country makes in a year basically. Now those would be reasons to slow down government spending.

The second issue is that this whole economic system is based on faith and beliefs – for example, you believe in money, so a piece of paper with the face of the Queen is worth £10 instead of 10p – , and Moody’s are losing faith. Who’s next?

So what will happen? I don’t know – and we’d probably need tarot cards and a crystal ball to find out before it unfolds. To be honest, I don’t think I understand or know what’s happening right now.

What can we do then? Well, let’s just enjoy ourselves while we’re still having it good(ish?) and let’s just party. So here are 5 songs I think should be played when partying and my I-wish-those-songs-would-be-played-at-parties playlist for us to enjoy while we wait for things to go bad – or good if you still have faith!

1 – call the police – LCD Soundsystem (american dream, 2017)

Since its release earlier this year, call the police hasn’t failed to put me in a party mood.

2 – Want it Back – Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra (Theatre is Evil, 2012)

It’s an Amanda Palmer song, so enough energy to keep you awake through the night.

3 – She Wants To Move – N.E.R.D. (Fly Or Die, 2004)

I want to move too when I hear this song! And “her ass is a spaceship I want to ride” has to be one of the best lines about behinds.

4 – You’re so Cool – Jonathan Bree (You’re so Cool, 2017)

If Amanda didn’t keep you as awake as promised, it’s a good one for a quick power nap.

5 – Alexander – Rey Pila (Future Sugar, 2015)

This song from the Mexican band will be driving us wild all night, perfect for forgetting economic turmoil.