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Comment by TrackerFF | Hacker News Reader

There are many reasons, IMO.

1. The US has almost 330 million people; Europe has 740 million - but we're spread over so many different countries / policies / cultures etc. Hell, eastern Europe was locked out up until 30 years ago, and didn't stat to see industrial prosperity until 20 years ago.

2. USA had a massive advantage after WW2, while Europe was still in shambles. The rebuilding of Europe wasn't really completed until the 50s and 60s, at a time when the US experienced its golden age of industrial development.

3. More rich people and more investors compared to Europe, from earlier on, coupled with excellent schools that could produce and feed talent into the industry.

Sure, we here in Europe have had excellent schools, but nowhere near the financial backings. In many countries, financial backing of tech and companies have been a gov / state affair, which in turn can be extremely limited compared to private investors.

etc.

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Yeah, it's just amazing how people completely forget that whole "bombed literally to bits in WWII" thing. Most Americans have no clue how long rationing lasted in the UK after WWII, and yet you guys managed to implement the NHS. Meanwhile, at the same time, the fabulously prospering USA has never managed to do anything to take care of this basic need of citizens, yet keeps calling itself "superior".

The United States was once a 3rd world country that lost 10% of its population in the American Civil War. Within 5 decades of that, it produced 50% of the worlds manufacturing output.

Needless to say, Europe was it its peak at the time, and has only declined since.

Excuses are easy to come by - root causes are more useful to examine.

The US was the second country to industrialize (Britain was first; France third) and that industrialization had been going very strong for many decades before the start of the American Civil War. Also life expectancy, infant mortality, adult height and similar measures were better in the American colonies than in the most advance Western European countries a century (and probably a century and a half) before the start of the Civil War. So I don't agree that it was a 3rd-world country at the start of the Civil War.

(I have no opinion on grandparent; I am reacting only to your choice of the term "3rd-world country".)

1.2 Europe's 740 million people speak in at least 24 languages. This makes it much more difficult to scale internationally. That's why there's so many doppelgänger companies in different EU countries — it's more likely that somebody will create a regional clone of your successful business than you'll be able to scale.

There is a much simpler explanation.

1. It’s an order of magnitude easier to fire people in the US Vs the EU. That means American employers are more willing to take chances on people, ideas and growth. EU small business are family run for a reason.

2. It’s an order of magnitude easier to shut down a business in the US Vs the EU. So, again, an entrepreneur can take more chances in the US.

The EU favors big businesses that are hand-in-glove with the government. The US does so to a much smaller extent - smaller players and individuals have a fighting chance. Most US mega businesses today were tiny not too long ago (e.g. almost all of tech).

Google, Facebook etc. are ad serving companies. That's how they make their money. Let's compare that with other companies (a lot of them European) that are busy saving the world with renewable energy technologies etc. No comparison.

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