You now claim the spanish empire, renaissance italy, france or byzantine empire was poorer than northern europe?
No one cares. Infact at one time nazis claimed so called nordic superiority by claiming the top leaders of greeks/italians were blonde germans and actual greeks/italians are just masses. Like alexander had blonde hair or something. ofcourse eventually the "inferioir" slavs and soviets handed the blonde blue eyed all aryan nazi asses back to them.
Keeping aside nazi nonsense - the contempt for italians/greeks is quier common in northern europeans - English/German etc.