[pm90]

A first step might be to expand the European University system to handle the influx of Graduate students that were previously headed to the US. Give funding, poach the frustrated non tenured profs from the US.

Essentially reverse what happened during and after WW2, when the anti semitism caused Germany and then mainland Europe to lose all the amazing talent to the US.

[R0b0t1]

No, a first step would be increasing social mobility. It's pretty hard to attend school in large parts of Europe. If you are from Europe realize you might be in a bubble of people that speaks English very well -- in general, I've noticed such people are high performers relative to many.

[Kbelicius]

Most EU countries have higher social mobility then the US.

[R0b0t1]

I've read the opposite, or at least that they are very close, from an unbiased (as far as I can tell) source. Couple that with all the reports that investors in e.g. Germany are extremely conservative and it seems social mobility would be lower.

[barry-cotter]

> A first step might be to expand the European University system to handle the influx of Graduate students that were previously headed to the US. Give funding, poach the frustrated non tenured profs from the US.

There is no European university system. There’s a French one, a German one etc. They all pay much, much worse than their US equivalent because they’re substantially poorer than the US. Remember, if Germany was a US state it would be poorer than every state but Mississippi. And this probably understates the difference. By average household consumption the US is $10,000 ahead of Switzerland, number 2 after Hong Kong. The money to massively increase research spending isn’t there.

[ytwySXpMbS]

I’m not sure where you’re getting your numbers from. Assuming by “poorer” you mean nominal GDP, Germany would be the richest state in the US.

[tpush]

Presumably they mean GDP per capita, which slots Germany[0] just under Alabama[1].

[0] https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/DEU/germany/gdp-per-ca...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_and_territories...

[barry-cotter]

My numbers were out of date. Germany has a higher GDP per capita than South Carolina, Alabama, Idaho, West Virginia, Arkansas and Mississippi.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Germany

[danielscrubs]

Interesting. Why does Washington DC have almost triple the gdp/capita then California? What do they do that California don’t?

[filmgirlcw]

Much smaller area (DC is something like 65 square miles) and population, for one.

But beyond that, my thought is that although you probably have fewer super rich people in DC, you also have way fewer poor people. So the average is going to be higher than even SV.

Plus, the types of jobs in DC proper (so we’re not talking about the extended Maryland and Virginia suburbs) are almost entirely professional/government. It’s also a very expensive place to live.

[barry-cotter]

DC has higher GDP per capita than California for the same reason NYC would have higher GDP per capita than NY state, or San Francisco than all of California. Cities are more economically productive than areas that also have lots of low value added activities like agriculture, mining or forestry.