Editor's note: On the left of the political spectrum many see the 2008 to 20?? corporate, bank & stock market failures, the tanking of whole national economies, indeed even the weakening dollar and euro, as a failure of the capitalist system. It may very well be a failure of that system as we have known it. It may also be a planned collapse intended to crush the working and middle classes, designed to concentrate wealth and power by those who are intent on ruling the world. In the recent series of national economic downgrades, S&P may serve as one of their demolition balls. Of course only conspiracy whackos like us would come up with such absurd ideas.

- LMB

S&P downgrades France, eight other euro zone nations

A woman walks on a map of Europe, which is part of a marble world planisphere, in Lisbon August 14, 2011. Photo: Jose Manuel Ribeiro

(Reuters) - Standard & Poor's carried out a mass downgrade of euro zone countries on Friday, stripping France and Austria of their top-grade AAA ratings in a move that may complicate efforts to solve a two-year old European debt crisis.

Germany, the bloc's largest economy, was spared.

Nine of the 17 members of the euro area had their credit ratings cut by S&P. France and four other countries suffered a one-notch downgrade while Portugal, Italy, Spain and Cyprus were cut by two notches.

S&P reaffirmed the ratings on seven other euro zone countries. The agency said that of the 16 countries reviewed, all save Germany and Slovakia have negative outlooks, meaning more downgrades are possible in the next couple of years.

(Reporting By Walter Brandimarte; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Source: Reuters