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Comment by bpodgursky | Hacker News Reader

Not especially surprising, nor damning of american-borns. Those with the motivation, skills, and education to move abroad (to anywhere!) and start a business are going to, on average, outperform the population which was born there. Not because they are naturally better, but because they were self-selected by being there in the first place.

Just like I'd be willing to bet that americans living abroad are overrepresented as entrepreneurs wherever they happen to be living.

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I don't think it's damning of American-borns, I think it's actually the opposite. As a foreign-born founder of a US startup, I wish my home country was as attractive as the US for starting my business. I think America should be proud of its capability to attract top talent.

It's also possible that due to discrimination in the hiring market, their opportunity cost is lower.

That's not only true for entrepreneurs, but anyone who excels in their field. Here in Europe a lot of Americans and other foreigners stand out because they were chosen for their skills. Otherwise they wouldn't be here. The Europeans I know in Silicon Valley didn't go there on their own accord, they were invited to come.

> Not especially surprising, nor damning of american-borns

I disagree. I wouldn't be sanguine about it. Previous major waves of technical innovation were lead by well established Americans. Something has changed.

A plausible hypothesis (not that I'm convinced) is that high immigration has driven down wages in technical professions. So native born Americans are less inclined to bother.

I think it's important to point out that two American eras of high growth and prosperity had essentially zero immigration. From 1921 to 1965 immigration was practically nothing. This was a period of extreme American innovation.

I dont think its got anything to do with wages. Especially for founders of technology/science-based companies.

Rather I think Americans dont take tough courses in college - ie science/technology courses. How many computer science (for eg:) MS courses even have Americans enrolled in them?

Americans take it easy in college. Heck, if I'd been born here I'd have done the same. :)

> Americans dont take tough courses in college - ie science/technology courses

... because an army of H1Bs and green cards have driven down wages and thus the incentive to pursue science & tech careers? Seems at least plausible.

From 1921 to 1965 immigration was practically nothing.

Uhm, what? Perhaps in raw numbers, but the world wars drove vast numbers of european intellectuals to the US.

I was just going to say almost exactly this: it might be worth reading Richard Rhodes' The Making of the Atomic Bomb, in which he points out how many of the essential scientists and engineers working in aspects of the Manhattan Project were Europeans. Some of the most essential figures, like Leo Szliard (sp?), were.

I dare say a handful of physicists and chemists did not have major bearing on the US economy, after their accomplishment of needlessly incinerating a bunch of japanese.

He's "merely" forgetting that von Neumann, von Karman, and Andy Grove all came from Hungary.

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