> technical default 32 years ago was blamed on check-processing glitches and quickly corrected . . . affected only a tiny percentage of maturing securities at the time.
Actually I think the financial system doesn't function as a rigid categorization structure. I think it's more like a negotiation of resource management. Things like leverage and political power apply here in ways that cause the rules to become far more flexible. A powerful government like the United States commands far more favorable (good faith) experiences with finance than, say, a person who is late on paying rent due to the same checking error.
Not exactly the same thing.