Blackstone CEO Schwarzman Says ‘Numbers Justify’ Fitch Downgrade

Steve Schwarzman said Fitch Ratings’ downgrade of the US long-term credit rating was appropriate after multiple debt-limit standoffs.

“The numbers justify it, regrettably,” the Blackstone Inc. chief executive officer said on CNBC Friday. “We’ve had an explosion of debt since the global financial crisis. We don’t appear to have a lot of discipline.”

Stephen Schwarzman

Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg

Fitch’s decision this week to lower the US long-term rating to AA+ from AAA, based on the US government’s debt burden and “erosion of governance,” rattled the stock market and prompted criticism from both inside and outside the Biden administration.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie ...