We need to attach a warning message to the credit ratings.

Sir Andrew Ward reports August 10 that President George W. Bush has said there was a “proper role for government” in enhancing financial literacy as “we had a lot of really hardworking Americans sign up for loans and the truth of the matter is they probably didn’t fully understand what they were signing up for”.

Mr Bush might have a point but from what we currently see those most in need of a financial literacy course seem to be all the investors struggling to make head and tails out of credit rating grades or financial models that really do not mean what they say.

Of course it also cannot only be a question about the reading but also about the writing. For a starter, as a minimum role for the government, I would suggest they start by making obligatory, whenever credit ratings are disclosed the inclusion of a “Warning, following these ratings blindly is dangerous to the financial well being of your portfolio.”