Poor German, Rich Italian
The headlines about Germans being poorer than the Italians and the Spanish and other Europeans make for amusing reading. Those headlines were based on ECB (European Central Bank) data, no less. Which rules out the data source as being wrong. But, let’s face it, the headline is so obviously and completely wrong. Who in their right mind thinks of Germany as being the poor cousin of Europe? So what exactly is wrong here? The one word answer: statistics. As in that famous line about statistics and damned lies. As in it’s as much about what is revealed as what is hidden. Now for the longer answer. Turns out most people in Spain and Italy own homes whereas most Germans don’t. So when you calculate the net wealth of an individual, you add the home value in Spain and Italy but not in Germany. Oh by the way, the ECB data was based on 2008 home values, and, unless you lived in a cave, you’d know the values of those homes today would be much less. Much, much less. Additiona...