In an era of elevated real interest rates and AI-driven debt issuance, Goldman Sachs has quietly overturned a long-held article of faith in fixed income: that the safest bonds are the wisest ones. The bank now counsels investors to descend the credit quality ladder — favoring BBB and B-rated corporate debt over the traditional sanctuaries of AA and A — on the grounds that thin spreads and rising supply have made premium ratings a liability rather than a refuge. It is a moment that asks investors to reconsider whether safety, as the market has long defined it, still means what they think it doe