It is worth noting that productivity and innovation are a team sport. If you place a single bitcoin programmer in the middle of, say, Yemen, that person would

It is worth noting that productivity and innovation are a team sport. If you place a single bitcoin programmer in the middle of, say, Yemen, that person would be a lot less productive than they would in the US. This might be marginally improved with the internet (at least the person doesn't have to physically ask questions or purchase books), but only marginally. Consider: 1. Tough time understanding the needs of paying business customers because the business are smaller and less tech savvy. 2. Tough time hiring other workers to expand because they are fewer schools that produce programmers, managers etc. 3. Tough time with internet, electricity and so forth because the infrastructure isn't there. 4. Tough time with knowing what the legal hoops are for setting up a company and a contract because the institutions have been weakened. And so on. Of course there are smart and innovative people there who can do useful work in that context. But that is not the same as the US context.