[YorkshireSeason]

> Europe has been highly Americanised

This is very true and also very interesting. One underappreciated effect of this is the speed of diffusion of ideas originating in the US.

Generalising and simplifying a great deal, it takes a couple of years, maybe 2-3 for an idea to become normalised in English speaking European countries, and then another few years before the idea becomes normalised in the non-English speaking countries. This has the effect that Europeans are always late to the party and that hampers competitiveness, b/c the US and China have already moved on. A really amusing instance is EU research funding. Cloud computing became a EU-fundable research theme when Amazon had commercialised AWS already.

[hunglee2]

yes, indeed, the cultural exchange is broadly mono-directional.

I think both Americans and Europeans are generally unaware of this phenomenon, but basically US is making the future values, habits and behaviours Europeans hold, so US companies will not only inevitably be ahead, but also have a decisive lead if / when a European competitor emerges. US internet is producing cultural convergence in Europe, with the 'centre' being Silicon Valley / New York, and the periphery being everywhere else