From SOCIAL STATUS point of view I agree with you that Engineers fair better in these countries. However Engineers in the US are still payed better than their counterpart in Germany and Japan, I know this since our company have branches in Japan and Western Europe, and our engineers in the US with make 25% to 30% more in salaries than our counterpart with same position in Western Europe and Japan. Also American Engineers have vastly more resources for R&D, and design than those in Western European and more than those Japan.
Of course it is not worth comparing our engineers salaries and access for R & D and design to those of China and India, it is a joke to do so, and that why every Chinese and Indian engineers ultimate dream is to come and work in the US.