What you are missing is how long we live. Yes companies can tap us dry. It can kill most men prematurely. The US life expectancy for males is a basket case. You can’t take it with you.
The EU is going to supply side econ, a model that kills people prematurely.
Life is priceless. Corporate profits are gained in the US at an expense.
The average life expectancy for a Western European male is roughly 79 years old at birth. However, this number varies depending on the specific country. For example, men in Italy and Spain can expect to live around 80–81 years, whereas average lifespans in other Western European nations hover closer to 78–79 years
The average life expectancy for a male in the United States is 76.5 years old
There are two things here. The first is the concept of “industrial clusters”, in which a particular area (geographic or otherwise) becomes adept at a specific industry, and supporting businesses flock to be near it, creating a virtuous cycle. Detroit with cars is an obvious one (or was), like Pittsburgh and Steel, Hollywood/film, Milan/Fashion, Banking/Finance/New York, and now Silicon Valley and tech. While it’s certainly possible, I would not be expecting a lot of “new tech giants” to emerge in (say) Italy or Belgium, for the same reasons I wouldn’t expect them in Iowa.
I would also note that the calls for “less regulation” and “no regulation” are loudest from the industry(ies) themselves; the number of CEO’s who say “I think we need more regulation to weed out the bad elements” is vanishingly small. (That said, it has happened, as when the bad actors start actually killing people or similar. See: Food Safety & Upton Sinclair or Producer of medications in the era of ineffective and dangerous patent medicines.)
The EU is made up of different countries , and it took even the US to fully recognize federal supremacy (14th Amendment, 1833) even though some thought it was there from the beginning. The EU has been around 33 years, it took the US 60 to figure out how to harmonize the many and various laws (and even then it didn’t always happen: see: segregation).
So with all of that, let’s look at this terrible regulation the EU has imposed. Below is a picture of the various power cords I have hanging in the workshop to juice my phones, cameras, music players, GPSs, and other assorted electronic devices over the past few years:
The EU told companies to get over it and use a single standard, so everything I have bought in the past 18 months uses the same cable. Horrible regulation, I guess.
I asked the chip factory for a quick summation of the EU regulations that you are complaining about. It returned:
The DMA prohibiting anticompetitive behavior in app stores (among other places) requiring Apple to allow 3rd party payments and proscribing Google from ranking its own apps at the top in its App Store.
GDPR, General Data Protection Regulatioin giving consumers privacy protections about data collection, storage, and use, and requiring companies to allow “the right to be forgotten”.
AI act requiring companies not to distribute agents that offer “unacceptable risk” (more below).
DSA Digital Services Act Requiring companies not to target minors without parental consent, and requiring algorithmic transparency.
EU Data Act requiring companies to allow customers to exit contracts with two months notice and provide clear communication about switching changes.
I’m not really sure which of those is so horrible, but I can understand why the tech giants would be opposed, given that they are used to operating in the Wild Wild West with scarcely a sheriff within 10,000 miles.
As for the “more below”, it was asked upthread “what specific regulations do you support?” Well, those which outlaw telling people how to make biological weapons in their kitchen and how to distribute them most effectively for maximum damage:
And maybe prohibiting AI agents from creating “super worms” to target computer flaws, potentially bringing down infrastructure, power grids, financial networks and the like.
I’m pretty sure the tired old trope of “Oh, the market will correct it” won’t be very reassuring after the electricity is cut off for a week. Like so much of dreamy libertarian philosophy, it completely ignores reality in favor of airy theories which have never, ever, worked. Not once.
Sure. And Hooker Chemical Co had lots of experience at their Love Canal Plant and Union Carbide probably had lots at Bhopal, too. Does anyone think Facebook decided on its own to limit sub-teens and teenagers’ access in any way? Do we think RJ Reynolds decided to stop putting vending machines in public spaces because they realized it was the responsible thing to do? Did “the market” help with any of those?
Multiplicity of factors, in no particular order. The tech industrial cluster began in Silicon Valley and has spawned 50 years of economic benefit, mostly here. (See note on China, below). (A part of this is due to government investment: see NASA, chips, science, education.)
If/when European contenders have appeared they have been bought out by US giants, or failed to reach scale. EU has balkanization: different languages, customs, wants, needs, governments. It also makes capital formation hard when you have to jump borders with different banking systems and regulators. (That many have worked fine in the 1600’s, but things move faster now.)
While European productivity is almost as high while working , there is also a cultural difference which gives them more time away: longer vacations, family leave and other policies which prioritize things other than you find in the US.
A shorter list would probably be: 1) Tech deficit (cluster). 2) Fragmented markets (language, finance). 3) Energy dependency. 4) Cultural milieu. 5) Bureaucracy.
[So why did China make it and the EU not?: National policy and codified government direction. There is no doubt that China has followed a terrific industrial policy in tech (screens, chips, solar, devices) and in other areas (auto production, aerospace, science) and because they can be unified by dictat, can achieve great things. (As the US did going from depression to arsenal of democracy during World War II.) That also makes for stunning blunders, as China’s experience with real estate and empty cities demonstrates.
That “all direction fro the top” is no panacea; look at the billions/trillions being wasted by the oil sheiks in an attempt (occasionally successful) to “modernize”, while still cloaking their societies in ancient shibboleths.
China managed to crawl out from below the dross; the Arab states have not, mostly.]
Sheesh, the confidence. Goofy you might want to come down to earth with the mere mortals when writing. I get it is popular, but it should not be popular to be that wrong much of the time.
The 14th Amendment and 1833 represent a pivotal shift in U.S. constitutional law. In 1833, the Supreme Court ruled in Barron v. Baltimore that the Bill of Rights only applied to the federal government. However, the 14th Amendment—ratified in 1868—reversed this, “incorporating” these fundamental rights to apply to state and local governments
Bob, “underperformance” is a pejorative for the dynamics in play. You fire someone for underperformance, but the EU citizens generally live longer than their US counterparts. Who truly is underperforming?
this
The US dollar’s reserve currency status has an outsized effect on the size of the US GDP compared to the EU, allowing the US to borrow more cheaply and sustain persistent trade deficits. However, the growing nominal GDP gap between the two economies is primarily driven by disparities in productivity, demographics, and innovation rather than reserve status alone. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Recent economic trends and the structural impacts of these forces illustrate the scale of this divide: [3, 5]
Nominal GDP Size (US vs. EU)
The Dollar Gap: At current exchange rates, the US economy has outpaced the EU. In 2026, the US nominal GDP is projected to reach approximately $31.8 trillion, compared to the EU’s $22.5 trillion.
Historical Swings: The nominal GDP comparison is heavily skewed by currency fluctuations. Because the EU generates its output in euros, a strong US dollar artificially inflates the size of the US economy when measured in USD. [4, 7]
Effects of Reserve Status on the US vs. EU
Exorbitant Privilege: As the primary global reserve currency—comprising roughly 58% of global foreign exchange reserves—the US can borrow at lower interest rates because foreign central banks continually demand US Treasuries as safe-haven assets.
Sustained Deficits: The global appetite for the dollar allows the US to run persistent trade and budget deficits without sparking immediate currency crises, providing a constant stimulus to domestic consumption and GDP.
The Euro’s Limitations: The euro is the world’s number two reserve currency (holding around 20% of reserves). However, the EU lacks a single, centralized treasury and unified bond market, which prevents the euro from capturing the full borrowing and economic benefits the US enjoys. [3, 10]
Drivers of the Economic Gap
While the reserve currency status lowers US borrowing costs, the widening growth gap between the US and the EU is largely attributed to:
Productivity & Tech: The US has cultivated massive global technology firms, whereas Europe heavily lags in tech scaling and digital innovation.
Demographics: The US has experienced more robust population and workforce growth, fueling a higher overall aggregate GDP.
Energy Costs: Structural energy price discrepancies have historically weighed heavier on European manufacturing and output competitiveness.
To help me give you more specific details, could you tell me:
Are you analyzing this from an investment/equities perspective or a macroeconomic policy view?
Would you like to compare GDP growth rates over a specific decade?
Are you interested in looking at GDP adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)?
The biggest reason lending rates globally for the US are lower in USD over time is its reserve currency status.
The EU life style is so much better that they live wealthier than most Americans.
If you look at the waste in the US and then subtract it, we are lot poorer. That does not mean poor people are wasteful…ONLY. Everyone in our American culture is wasting huge amounts of resources that bloat the US GDP numbers.
The figure was revised up from earlier estimates of €800 billion in 2024 and €1.2 trillion in 2025…The EBF [European Banking Federation] says the investment gap reflects rising funding needs in areas such as energy, defence, digitalization and industrial capacity…
Europe’s banks say the regulatory framework is constraining lending and they are pushing for changes. A European Commission assessment of banking sector competitiveness is expected in July, with legislative proposals likely to follow in 2027.
France and Germany have urged the Commission to bring forward an ambitious “financial services simplification package” to make EU rules easier to navigate and less burdensome.
