. >> joining me now for more on this is mohamed l arian. we just heard the u.s.ury secretary yellen disagree with this downgrade. in your mind him curious, was the downgrade warranted by fitch? >> it was not. i agree with secretary yellen. as do the vast majority of economists and market analysts. as does the market itself, which has brushed off the decision. both the content and the timing of the announcement were pick your words. strange, surprising, perplexing. whatever word you want to use. it just doesn't seem right, to tell you the truth. >> what's behind it, then? what makes you think they decided to make this downgrade now? >> no one knows. one argument is that it is an accumulation of factors. maybe they should have moved earlier and didn't but then felt compelled to move but they moved at the wrong time. moved at a time when economic growth has been improving and when governance has been improving. so, it's not clear as to whether that's the argument. there is another argument i'm not qualified to speak on, which is that it was a political decision. tha