Ask a random person if he has ever heard of "S&P" and he might say that yes, the term sounds familiar but then again, chances are the individual in question would probably make the same statement if you asked him about "P&G" or any other "you've probably heard about it but don't quite know where" household name. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of individuals know next to nothing about why credit rating agencies such as the (in)famous big three (Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch Group) exist and most importantly... why the average person should care. Ironically, ask the same people about the Great Recession and you will hear a mouthful about how bad it was for them. Unfortunately, credit rating agencies have played a key negative role as far as the entire MBS fiasco associated with the Great Recession is concerned and as such, it might be wise to learn a thing or two about them. Does the purpose of this video revolve around explaining that Moody's, S&P and/or Fitch are somehow evil entities that indent to destroy the financial world as we know it? Of course not, credit rating agencies can actually be extremely useful under the right circumstance, which is why it is important to place adequate pressure on them to treat their systemic role much more seriously. Fair enough?