But the country's new credit rating should increase access to capital for its best-behaved companies.
Clinton saw an overall increase in his approval rating from 62 percent in mid-January to 71 percent after the State of the Union speech.
The council said the results would have been even worse had it not been for an increase in the value for money rating brought about by free transport for senior citizens.
He said that school inspectors had been told to challenge head teachers and governors to justify pay rises to teachers and to give a lower rating to schools that increase staff pay without good reason.
TNT's 2009 PGA Championship coverage earned significant television ratings increases on each of its four days of coverage, averaging a 1.4 US HH rating, a 75% increase over 2008.
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And as of Feb. 11, NBC's three-day nightly 20.3 average rating was a 23% increase over the first three-day average for the Nagano, Japan, Olympics, aired by Viacom (nyse: VIA - news - people )-owned CBS .
The best that can be hoped for is that shareholders, rating agencies and the media will increase the pressure for boards to be more transparent, and thereby more answerable to their shareholders.
On, an international energy and engineering group, any increase in its liabilities may well affect its credit rating and so the interest rate it has to pay when issuing new bonds.
Last night, the game between Alabama and Notre Dame delivered a 15.7 overnight rating, which amounts to a 14 percent increase over 2012.
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If France, for instance, was to pump money into its banks that would increase its debts and so put at risk its triple AAA rating.
Last year, the median sticker price at about 280 private colleges and universities tracked by the debt-rating firm rose 3.9%, the smallest increase in at least 12 years.
Santos' economic policies have won Colombia investment grade status from the three leading rating agencies but the achievements have been tarnished by a recent increase in violence by leftist rebels, including attacks on oil companies.
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The brinkmanship that preceded the increase in the debt ceiling on August 2nd, the downgrade to America's credit rating and the fiscal turbulence in Europe, are the sorts of things that could produce a self-fulfilling collapse in confidence.
Designed for even the most demanding mission-critical applications, the AL13SE series features an operating reliability rating of 2, 000, 000 power-on hours2, a 25% increase over prior-generation drives.
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In that same time frame there was a 42% increase in the recording of federal tax liens against taxpayers with an attendant adverse impact on their credit rating.
And Monday's figures showing a slight year-on-year increase in public sector net borrowing have fuelled fears that the UK could lose its coveted AAA credit rating, thereby potentially increasing the government's cost of borrowing.
Things may then become a tad less consensual as peers get their first chance to debate the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill - the measure which is designed to make sure that benefit payments don't increase faster than wages.
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