Why Focus On Greece?

On the Free Exchange blog and Scott Sumner's blog it is asked why there is so much focus on Greece despite the fact that the Greek economy is relatively small.

There are several explanations for this, but I think the most important explanation is actually simply that the developments have been so spectacular, and this always attracts attention.

This is illustrated by how previously Iceland and Latvia attracted so much attention, even though they are both far smaller than Greece.

Another key explanation is of course the fear of contagion to much larger nations such as Spain and Italy.