All the hand-wringing over a potential government default if Congress doesn't increase the government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling has conjured up images of past government shutdowns. In shutdowns, "essential” workers — TSA agents and such — showed up, but most federal employees stayed home. Work piled up in offices, and litter piled up in untended national parks.
However, there's a big difference between a government shutdown and a default on the nation's debts.
