By Kevin Bessler, includes “… Bill Bergman, director of research for Truth in Accounting, said credit ratings can be misleading. … The rating of a state’s bonds is a measure of their credit quality. A higher bond rating generally means the state can borrow at a lower interest rate.” (Note: There is a chicken or the egg issue here. Ratings can go up after interest rates have gone down, and credit ratings simply follow the market. That’s what appears to have happened in Illinois’ recent case.)