At a crucial moment the agencies would have to declare that they were unable to provide a rating of the country, as clear a signal to the markets as a downgrade itself.
"A change in the calendar date might be interpreted pessimistically as a downgrade of the committee's economic outlook rather than as conveying the committee's determination to support the economic recovery," some participants noted according to the minutes.
But unless we're to deliriously believe that three years away from football and 20 months behind bars leaves no rust on a 34-year-old, it's hard not to see Plaxico Burress as a downgrade from Braylon Edwards.
Chip designer Arm continues to suffer from Wednesday's tech sell-off in the US, partly on growth fears as well as a downgrade of US chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices by UBS.
Wall Street's fortunes turned negative again yesterday as a downgrade of chip makers by Merrill Lynch and disappointing sales by retailers gave investors more reasons to doubt the strength of an economic recovery.
In a recent lecture he said: "It is self-evident Russia experienced the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet bloc as a downgrade … A new balance, based on less confrontation and more on cooperation, unfortunately has not spontaneously emerged from the rubble of the cold war.
A move downstairs to the smaller Zankel Hall was perceived by some listeners as a downgrade, even though the new hall, with its up-to-date electronic sound and video technology, is far better suited to the orchestra's repertory than Carnegie was.
But in any other situation, I'd have to look at this phone as a downgrade.
A man wishing to appear and behave more like a woman is seen as a downgrade, as the man choosing to be less than he is".
Fat women are seen as a "downgrade," which forces many heterosexual men to deny that they're attracted to fat women at all.
