The rating agencies credibility is not a result of any market

Sir Paul De Grauwe is right suggesting to alert the investors with a label that says “Warning: rating agencies can do you harm” January 23; as you know I have been advocating precisely that for years. But, when De Grauwe expresses surprise that the rating agencies are still around, even after having failed so miserably, he forgets that who put them in power and keep them there were the financial regulators and not the market. As long as “if they’re good enough for the Basel Committee they’re good enough for you” reigns, the markets cannot free themselves from these dangerous agents of systemic risk.

http://teawithft.blogspot.com/2007/08/we-need-to-attach-warning-message-to.html