# 11. Lying (Deceit) ## 11.5. Methodology/Refinements/Sub-species ### 11.5.3. Illusions The creation and maintenance of an illusion can be a powerful method of control. A topical case in point is the bank executive who argues to the bitter end that his bank is solvent. Similarly, the Minister of Finance who maintains that the economy is in good shape even while his civil servants prepare for sovereign default. The technique could be described as a form of "latent deceit" because it can often be disguised as incompetence rather than malice. Instances abound, such as the case where Irish beef burgers were found to contain up to 29% horse meat. Despite the hard reality that Irish meat factories were adulterating food, various officials made almost immediate public statements to the effect that Ireland had the "best food production and oversight systems in the world" - an amazing contradiction between fact and illusion. Another contemporary case occurred when in 2012 the Spanish government's Minister of Finance repeatedly proclaimed for almost 9 months that his government required no IMF bailout. Towards the end of that year the government finally admitted that it was effectively insolvent and had to obtain a record 100 billion Euros in "bailout" funding and the loss of its economic sovereignty. The illusion of solvency was held up for 9 months before finally collapsing under the weight of reality. The victims of the Spanish government's temporary manipulation were the international capital markets and credit rating agencies. For a while they were convinced of the liquidity of Spain's banking system. But once the illusion collapsed, the cost of Spanish debt increased dramatically to unsustainable levels. The country's debt was downgraded to "junk", and rating agencies viciously downgraded the credit worthiness of Spain. The manipulators' victims took a merciless economic revenge.