In Greek Debt Crisis, a Window to the German Psyche.

PARIS -- A few weeks after Lehman Brothers went bankrupt and the world plunged into a financial crisis, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany offered some common-sense advice to reckless bankers, indebted consumers and profligate governments. ''One should simply have asked a Swabian housewife,'' Mrs. Merkel said during an address to fellow Christian Democrats in December 2008 in the southwest German region of Swabia, hub of the Protestant work ethic. ''She would have told us her worldly wisdom: in the long run, you can't live beyond your means.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]