I think this is a self-fulfilling prophecy
Couldn't agree more.
Look at America - it has of the order of 10 times more IR pilots than Europe, expressed as a % of the private pilot population. OK, there are loads of other reasons too (ability to do the IR at your old school rather than having to go to a "professional pilot" outfit, much smaller exams, etc) but the ability to fly IFR in an Experimental type must be a nice incentive.
However, the US Exp Category doesn't have the silly weight limits which the European light/sports stuff has to fit under so they can be reasonably robust, and a suitably built/equipped plane can then be flown IFR.
GPS alone is fine for enroute IFR (whether overt or not) but is not a meaningful solution to overt IFR for departures and arrivals, because it will be many years before GPS approaches are sufficiently available over here.