A new Pew Study reports: According to the majority of Americans, women are every bit as capable of being good political leaders as men. The same can be said of their ability to dominate the corporate boardroom. And according to a new Pew Research Center survey on women and leadership, most Americans find women indistinguishable from men on key leadership traits such as intelligence and capacity for innovation, with many saying they’re stronger than men in terms of being compassionate and organized leaders.

So why, then, are women in short supply at the top of government and business in the United States? According to the public, at least, it’s not that they lack toughness, management chops or proper skill sets.

It’s also not all about work-life balance. While economic research and previous survey findings have shown that career interruptions related to motherhood may make it harder for women to advance in their careers and compete for top executive jobs, relatively few adults in the new Pew Research survey point to this as a key barrier for women seeking leadership roles.¹ Only about one-in-five say women’s family responsibilities are a major reason there aren’t more females in top leadership positions in business and politics.

Instead, topping the list of reasons, about four and ten Americans point to a double standards for women seeking the highest levels of either politics or business. Similar shares say the electorate and corporate America are just not ready to put more women in top leadership positions.

As a result, the public is divided about whether, even in the face of the major advances women have made in the workplace, the imbalance in corporate America will change in the foreseeable future. About half (53%) believe men will continue to hold more top executive positions in business in the future; 44% say it is only a matter of time before as many women are in top executive positions as men. Americans are less doubtful when it comes to politics: 73% expect to see a female president in their lifetime.

These findings are based on a new Pew Research Center survey of 1,835 randomly selected adults conducted online Nov. 12-21, 2014. The survey also finds that the public is divided over whether a woman with leadership aspirations is better off having children early on in her career (36%) or waiting until she is well established (40%). About one-in-five (22%) say the best option would be to not have children at all.  Women-and Leadership

Faced with a popular Greek opposition party, Syriza, which demands that Europe either reduce Greece’s debts or watch Greece walk out of the eurozone, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has not blinked and therefore has neutralized the bargaining position Syriza hoped for.

Greece’s creditors – in the main, the governments of northern European Union countries, the IMF and the World Bank – are unfazed by Greek threats.

There are still creditors tied to Greece, but they have changed. Greece’s creditors are governments and international organizations, and not banks and pension funds, nor companies whose downfall would immediately affect millions of citizens in predominantly northern European countries,

The original rescue operation was a huge bailout – but in the form of quick money that was used to pay off Greek debts to German, French, and Dutch financial institutions.

At the beginning of the crisis, a Greek default would have seen banks and pension funds in the tank, resulting in renewed panic on financial markets still reeling from the credit crisis. Now the risk of contagion – with banks in Italy, Spain, and Ireland crashing like dominoes stones as investors flee – has largely subsided.

Instead, Greece now owes billions of euros to EU countries, the IMF, and the World Bank, among others. These creditors do not easily default. The hit they would take would be one they could bear. Meanwhile, a default and an exit from the European Union wouldn’t help Greece at all..

The first thing Greece would have to do it it exited the euro and the EU is organize stringent capital controls to prevent Greeks from moving their euros to other countries, which would effectively end any economic activity still going on in the country.

Second, Athens would have to quickly introduce a new currency,  which would immediately crash against the other main currencies.

For  Greek bonds, a new level below junk status would have to be invented. Within 24 hours Greece would be a financial pariah, paying huge interest rates and risk premiums, while its existing loans would balloon, as most loans outstanding to its foreign creditors would still have to be paid in euros. Greece would be Europe’s Zimbabwe, with the local economy in tatters; rampant inflation; and mass unemployment.

So Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras stood on the ledge,  Merkel folded her arms, smiled told him to go ahead and jump.  And now Merkel wonders whether Tsipras understands that he may call himself Greece’s new prime minister after Jan. 25, but he still won’t be the one holding any power.