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Comment by rubashov | Hacker News Reader

> 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.

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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.

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.

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