I hate to put the blame on to any &quot;one&quot; reason for Southern Europe doing badly, but I came across an article that probably gave a better reason why there was so much difference between North and South Europe, and the theory it presents is religious difference between Protestantism and Catholicism. Protestant (read the bible) &amp; Catholic (follow the pope).  This gave the north literary rise, and literary history, and advanced them above their southern neighbors.<p>Corruption could be fallout of illiteracy, or maybe, lack of corruption could be a fallout of advancing literacy.