[1] In August 2011, Beers earned significant attention as the S&P executive responsible for downgrading the credit rating of United States Treasury bonds to AA+.
[3] In January 2012, Beers announced his appointment, effective February 1, as Special Adviser to the Governor of the Bank of Canada.
Prior to that, Beers had been an economist at Salomon Brothers focused on analyzing the creditworthiness of sovereign debt.
[5] Although relatively unknown to the general public, Beers is one of the most influential people in the world: the Guardian newspaper wrote in August 2011 that, "In recent weeks, we have witnessed elected leaders in the world's most powerful nation dancing to the tune of David Beers.
He's the mustachioed, chain-smoking head of sovereign credit ratings for S&P, the largest and arguably most influential member of the big three."