One of the things we have become acutely aware of from our travels is that the news we get in the USA about other countries may have very little in common with what is really happening. It has been shaped and formed by accident in the form of bias and misunderstanding. Still, it is also re-formed intentionally to protect a narrative that has financial or political clout.
On our recent trip to Greece, we heard about the same problem but the other direction. Greece had distorted US news to protect a mortgage program in Greece.
According to our tour guide, Greece has instituted a relatively new concept in Greece – mortgages. The banks and mortgage companies were telling their customer how much of a mortgage they could afford, and that amount was higher than most people could pay. Too much of their salaries were dedicated just to the mortgage payment. No wiggle room in the family budget for other emergencies, loss of one job, or a decrease in pay. The US financial disaster with mortgages hit the news all over the world, but the Greek press assured all that their mortgage program was nothing like the US program that failed. And Greeks were encouraged to take on more and more debt.
Would accurate reporting of the US mortgage crisis have prevented the Greek economic crisis? Surely not, as this was only one small piece of the Greek crisis. But it might have given some individuals enough information for personal caution.
