So for now, with S&P standing alone in its downgrade, the U.S. still can be considered a AAA-rated sovereign. Only if another agency to lower its rating would the feared rise in long-term borrowing rates be likely to result, Pan says.

Are there any bright spots in all this from the CFO perspective? Well, at least one.

"On a positive note, it appears that the debate has changed in Washington and throughout the nation," says Bill Carroll, chief financial officer of Homedics, a producer of health and wellness products. "Hopefully we now will make the hard choices to help reestablish the appropriate balance between our obligations and the size of our economy, so that we can meet those obligations while preserving and enhancing the physical and intellectual infrastructure so that we can bequeath a vibrant US economy to our children."

Like most CFOs, Carroll will quickly expand on his answer when he's asked about what it means for the nation. "The downgrade is also a blow to America's image in the financial and non-financial world," he says. "It is more difficult to provide global leadership on free and open markets, fiscal rectitude, et cetera, if it appears that we don't have our own house in order. It will also provide an additional argument for the nations that are seeking to propose an alternative to the U.S. dollar as the global 'reserve currency,' with all of the benefits that this provides the U.S."