Most political economists I speak to believe this has been the logic all along, and brave though it has been for Prime Minister George Papandreou to try and buy time to do a proper structural reform of Greece, the implosion of Spain and Italy has robbed him of that time.
States that are cashed strapped because of the 2008 implosion of their tax base will have an even harder time, short term, if the government shuts down.