The crackdown had absolutely nothing to do with the downturn in Arizona or anywhere else. The 2007 collapse in the real estate market was the culprit. And Moody’s, the ratings’ agency, was part of the culpable parties responsible for the downturn. They irresponsibly approved an AAA rating on all securitized mortgage obligations which brought this world to its knees. Watch ‘The Big Short’ where a ratings’ agency rep says, “… if we don’t approve it they’ll (the issuer) just go down the street to our competitor.”

This was the crux of the financial crisis. The world relied on their AAA rating even though each tranche was tainted with the cancer of sub-prime slime.