>Europeans are very well educated,
I would make that read "many have spend a lot of time in school" with the aid of student grants loans and other social incentives, designed to keep them out of the work force to artificially hold down youth unemployment and general unrest.
> and they certainly understand the basics of business.
Sorry, but I think they are generally clueless when it comes to business. Their entire lives are focused around what government can do for them. Very few understand business and it's role in their lives.
>Many speak three or four languages, which certainly helps in the international business scene.
But English is the language of international business. I used English exclusively in every West European country without significant handicap. (Now Asia, that's another story...)
> However, I think you are right that they don't have as strong a work ethic as the U.S. does.
No question about this one. They probably don't have a good work ethic because unlike in America and some other parts of the world, working harder just brings them higher taxes with little perceptable improvement in quality of life.
Not all of them, but that's a fair comment. Since you mentioned government, I'm sure you would agree that government in most of Europe is a serious roadblock to business efficiency. In Western Europe it's ridiculous work force regulations (I'm afraid we're heading down that road in the U.S.). In Eastern Europe it's official corruption.