[Natural Law]

This is another example of the benefits of a free market, unbridled by unions, government regulations, and tariffs, can provide unimagined usefulness and value to a society AND let the best and brightest risk takers get rich in the process.

It should be noted that NONE of the PC innovations are coming from Europe. There are virtually no start-ups or successful ventures on the continent. The European Social Democracies are overly regulated and institutional favor the giant corporations. If the PC were a European invention there would be an "ISO 386" spec and a 5,000 page specification specifying what a computer could and could not do. The PC would never have cracked the $3000 barrier and there would be prohibitions against the purchase, importation or deployment of any non-ISO 386 PCs.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

There is a thread that relates to what you have just stated:

Why the Really Rich Love Socialists

[Big Giant Head]

Medion makes some pretty decent gear over there. Aldi’s sells it over here. This week they’ve got a pretty nice looking laptop.

[MichiganMan]

It should be noted that NONE of the PC innovations are coming from Europe. There are virtually no start-ups or successful ventures on the continent.

Hey, that is a fantastic point... one I've not ever seen made elsewhere.  Thank you.  It will come in very handy in discussions with self-hating Americans that inevitably idealize the European way of doing things without ever having lived under such supposed Utopias.