The Rhodes Center Podcast explores some of the most important and complex issues in the world of finance and economics through straightforward, candid conversations. The show is hosted by Mark Blyth, political economist and Director of the Rhodes Center at Brown University. 

On this episode Mark talks with Zsófia Barta and Alison Johnston, authors of the upcoming book Rating Politics: How Sovereign Credit Ratings Reward and Penalize Political and Policy Choices in Prosperous Developed Countries. They explain how agencies like Moody’s, Fitch, and Standard and Poor’s go about rating sovereign credit, and the surprising role a country’s internal politics play in the process.

Zsófia Barta is an associate professor of Political Science at the University at Albany SUNY.

Alison Johnston is an associate professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Oregon State University. 

Watch Zsófia and Alison’s full Rhodes Center talk.