The US is investing heavily in research and development, and it is home to some of the world’s leading technology companies. It also has a strong culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.
An internet user asked, “Americans, What is the US doing that it’s leaving Europe, Canada, Aus & NZ (rich countries) in the dust when it comes to technological advancement?”
330M High Productivity Population
“It’s no great mystery, the US has a 330M high productivity population and is very, very friendly to business. It also laps the field on highly skilled immigration and immigrants who own patents.”
Lots Of Reasons
“A lot of reasons. We make investments more accessible and more beneficial to investors to encourage people to put money into businesses.
We have fairly generous bankruptcy and business structure laws that allow entrepreneurs to walk away from failing businesses pretty easily with no personal detriments.
We also tend to have a lot fewer regulations, or more often lack of enforcement of regulations making the government much more hands-off and slow to react to products or business practices that would be illegal in the EU.
And perhaps most importantly, salaries for developers, engineers, etc. tend to be substantially higher and income and business taxes are lower in the US than almost anywhere else in the world. Because of that, we get our pick of the litter in terms of the best minds.”
Dept of Defense
“Dept of Defense has the highest budget on all Earth for making all kinds of high-tech stuff and researching and testing.
A large chunk of our tax money goes to the Defense and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The tech is diverse and eventually finds its way into the consumer market. It’s not all high-tech war machines. But, no shortage of high-tech weapons and targeting systems.”
Talented and educated Immigrants
“The brain gain the US seems to get from highly educated immigrants moving here is probably one of the biggest reasons, and the reason they’re attracted to living here I’d guess is due to the strong economy and the government’s investments in tech.”
High-Paying Salaries
“The tech industry has a *ton* of access to venture capital here, and as a result pays significantly better than anywhere else in the world. That attracts a lot of talent, both domestically and from other countries.”
Large Country With Natural Resources
“Being a large country with natural resources helps, and land that isn’t mostly terrible helps.”
DARPA
“The US has the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which was key to the development of the Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, weather satellites, GPS, drones, stealth technology, voice interfaces, the personal computer and the internet.”
PhD Programs
“The US has the best PhD programs in the world. The best and brightest come to train in the US and stay.” Said one.
“When I was in university studying mechanical engineering, we had one course which the lecturer said he had directly copied from MIT. It was by far the best and most informative course in my studies.” Another added.
Not Seeing Failure As Shameful
“Other countries see failure as shameful. Just look at our school systems; European systems punish extremely hard for failure and can ruin your entire life over it, whereas American systems allow for tons of forgiveness and opportunity (Like my Grandfather who nearly failed high school but ended up becoming a nuclear engineer)
As well as this, we attract a lot of intelligent people to come over simply because, despite what a lot of media says, America is a pretty good place to live.
Also, us being extremely wealthy doesn’t hurt.”
Investing In R&D And Individualism
“Americans invest in R&D. I also think our individualism works in our favor here. Less deference to authority, hierarchy, and group consensus = more willingness to take risks.”
Relative Lack Of A Safety Net
“One bold, politically incorrect theory I’ve heard is our relative lack of a safety net. Life is sink or swims in the US, more than in most other countries.
You better have a job, either working for someone else or working for yourself. If you decide to strike out on your own or change careers, you better have a plan that you’re sure about.”
Less Regulation In Jobs
“Less regulation, particularly around hiring and firing and layoffs. Lower barriers to entry. Much Lower taxes. Fewer business things where you have to ask permission before doing them. Less protectionism. Less regulation when it comes to new things. Weaker unions.”
Historical Advantages
“Historical advantages play a big factor. WWII devastated most industrialized nations while boosting American industry for the production of war materiel. This paved the way for America to become a post-war superpower.
The Cold War pushed America further to the forefront as many nations either depended on the US for defense against the Soviets or joined the Soviets and suffered economically when the USSR collapsed.
A strong economy allows for more innovation, more innovation improves the economy, it’s a self-strengthening cycle.
There isn’t as much opportunity elsewhere, so people who want to innovate, or who can provide the highly skilled labor that innovation requires, move to the US where they’ll have more opportunity. Which again gives the US more advantages in a self-strengthening cycle.”
Willing Consumer Base
“Because the tech industries prioritize making the USA a place they want to be, largely because market-wise we’ve got a very willing consumer base for those sorts of products.”
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This article was originally published on Mrs Daaku Studio.