More Greek Cognitive Illusion: What they really think about Germany

A quick update on the post about Greece and cognitive illusion when under stress from Tuesday. I mentioned one of the most powerful attributes of human nature is our insidious, and often subconscious, ability to shift blame to others when things aren’t going well. Another thing we do is take shots at others’ success.

For example, here’s a slide from the results of a recent Greek survey of “Greek Public Opinion about Germany and its policy”, from VPRC, an Athens-based public opinion survey consultancy.

Basically, Greeks surveyed attributed 51% of Germany’s economic performance to corrupt foreign practices, and only 18% to its competitiveness. If this is truly the mindset, this should be a warning to those suggesting Greece could reduce its financial burden by pledging, privatizing, or somehow monetizing its assets. Not gonna happen. And any political support for doing so is going to decline, not increase, as the pressure to leave the single currency continues to mount.