Relax: America will never be another Europe

In short, we’ll never be Europe because we’re too entrepreneurial to be Europe. While many across the pond are happy with the status quo–or better yet are happy to join the massive corporate and government bureaucracies that dot the European landscape ahead of corporate and government pensions after early retirement–restless Americans in many instances want more than the status quo.

In that sense it’s no surprise that every industrial boom–from oil in the 19th century, to autos in the early 20th, to technology in the late 20th century–was largely characterized by American entrepreneurs. Implicit in the suggestion that we’re morphing into our friends across the Atlantic is that we like a life of ease paid for on the backs of others. More realistically, we like to visit Europe for its myriad monuments, architecture and wonderful food, but ultimately we want to live in the U.S. (as do many Europeans) because it is where opportunity truly exists.