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iohognbdfh t1_j32b2fz wrote

Just remember that where a company is listed doesn't necessarily correlate to where it does most of its business.

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JoeFalchetto t1_j32c1bn wrote

I know, and I do not see how that is relevant.

It is even more impressive; the Swiss economy not only benefits from the internal production, but also from the profits generated abroad and brought back, and the taxes related to those profits. Swiss companies are so successful that they can go abroad and outcompete the local firms.

Same for the US. We have tried to grow some level of modern tech giants who could stand their ground against the Americans, but in the EU we keep failing, and the profits and know-how which can be extracted go back to America.

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pk10534 t1_j32f1fr wrote

Seems like the EU has decided to pick the approach of being the world’s regulator for tech companies rather than being its innovator like Silicon Valley has become. Which is understandable; frankly, I just think that the risk culture and defense spending in the US that led to its behemoth tech industry exist in a different culture than that of many European nations. Unless that changed, I sadly don’t think the EU has much of a chance of catching up the US or even China.

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SenecatheEldest t1_j35ym75 wrote

I think this climate of independence is a legacy of Europe's geopolitical decline over the past 75 years. You went from controlling the whole globe (save North America) to small continental nation-states. European nations can no longer compete with the great powers - The US, India, China, Russia, etc. Quite frankly, you are the least geopolitically significant global region today. You're best off picking a side.

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pk10534 t1_j35zlnm wrote

I’m American, btw haha - unless you meant that more as a general statement towards a European. But yes, I agree completely, and I think the insecurity over realizing that they aren’t major players on the global stage like they used to be is what causes a lot of the lashing out, especially at the US. But that’s mostly their own fault. They have chosen to outsource their defense to the US, thinking they were so enlightened in doing so. When in reality, defense spending caused many of the tech gains and influence the US has today. Europe is going to further its decline into irrelevancy as Africa and east Asia continue to rise.

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iohognbdfh t1_j32mset wrote

US companies haven't actually been repatriating those profits though. They leave them overseas to avoid taxes.

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Obvious_Chapter2082 t1_j35rr27 wrote

That doesn’t work anymore. The US taxes global income regardless of where it’s located, and it can be repatriated tax-free

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