Meredith Whitney: Gettier Case

Bloomberg says:

At least 7,000 top-rated municipal credits would have their ratings cut if the U.S. government loses its Aaa grade, Moody's Investors Service said.

An “automatic” downgrade affecting $130 billion in municipal debt directly linked to the U.S. would occur if the federal level is reduced, Moody's said yesterday in a report. Additionally, top-rated securities with no direct links to the national government will be reviewed for similar action.

We all remember Meredith Whitney's prediction last December that losses in the hundreds of billions would trigger a collapse in the municipal bond market. Now, imagine that Cantor, Bachmann, Robespierre, Saint-Just, et. al get their way over the next few weeks, and the U.S. defaults. The automatic municipal downgrade mentioned above might well be enough to make Whitney's prediction come true.

If that happens, will it be correct to say that, back in December 2010, Whitney knew that a municipal debt collapse was coming? Sounds like a real-life example of a Gettier problem.