I also feel like there will be some tension between increasing wages to be competitive with SWE salaries and the staggering tuition fees that students pay in America (orders of magnitude more than their EU counterparts in comparison).
Out of curiosity, how much do you believe it would be in Europe post-tax? In California this would be around $76k.
- Are costs of living (including housing prices) comparable?
- Is retirement comparable?
In the US you need to try to save some of your money for retirement too; not sure if most European countries have a pension-based system or not, but that's another thing to account for.
Even if they do have generous plan on paper, can they actually pay that 50 years in future?
Most won't. I know people from southern EU who haven't received what they were promised for pension and live in poverty today. It's only worse for future pensioners while they tax 25-30% in social security with no cap from your salary for pension and healthcare (You still need private coverage on top).
They also cut pension for people who saved money on side and accrued a livable amount ignoring their past contribution.
No. The US is far and away the richest polity on Earth. Nowhere pays comparably.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_househo...