A quote from Standard & Poor’s, 23 January 2006

The potential for Eurozone members to bail out one of their number in the event of financial distress is very limited, […] At present, the probability of any Eurozone country requiring such a bailout is still very remote, but over the coming decades, aging populations are set to create more substantial pressures on public finances. […] Indeed, both in terms of national finance and of domestic politics, more creditworthy EMU governments might view exiting the euro as preferable to footing the bill for another Eurozone member’s budgetary mistakes.