by Flickr user svachalek / Scott Vachalek, Creative Commons BY-SA 2.0, http://www.flickr.com/photos/svachalek/52053450/
EconMatters comments for NASDAQ on the double AA status that has put the U.S. in the same category as China, based on S&P's rating, recalling that, according to another risk metric - the Natural Hazards Risk Atlas 2011 from Maplecroft - out of 196 countries, USA (1), followed by Japan (2), China (3) and Taiwan (4) are the only four countries rated as "extreme risk" to economic exposure to natural hazards such as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes.