So when ratings agency Standard & Poor's on Monday warned the United States has a one-in-three chance of losing its gold star in the next two years, it came as a bit of a shock to the system.
The announcement was "like a gas explosion in a mine," according to Gregori Volokhine, an analyst at Meeschaert Capital Markets.
The impact was immediately seen on stock, bond and currency markets, but the most profound impact may have been to make the unthinkable -- a US downgrade -- not only thinkable, but likely.
"If two years from now we have not done anything, and we've added another $2.5 trillion to the debt, it will no longer be a one in three chance," said Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities US.
"The probabilities of this are on an increasing scale," he said, pointing blame directly at politicians