Freddie Mac Chairman John Koskinen called Standard and Poor's (S&P) decision to downgrade the U.S. and Freddie Mac's crediting rating from AAA to AA+ "sound." Shortly before speaking on the economy and housing market, he was informed of S&P's decision to downgrade both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae's credit rating. Koskinen told the audience he was optimistic about the U.S. economy but noted that the risk of the downgrade was that S&P was correct in its determination that the U.S. could not deal with its deficit problem. He also responded to questions from the audience.