There are things like cost of living and social security nets that account for the difference, but even then there's still a gap, albeit smaller. It seems that

There are things like cost of living and social security nets that account for the difference, but even then there's still a gap, albeit smaller. It seems that you do have more purchasing power in the US than in Europe, if you're college- or PhD-educated. On the flip side: I know a few people who turned down opportunities to go work in the US, or who went there and came back to Europe after a few years. Having not worked outside Europe, I'm always curious about discussing the various pros and cons, and although the pros were fairly obvious (good weather all year long, astronomical salary, etc.), one of the cons listed was invariably "I have to live in the US". Exactly why this was a con changed from person to person, but it was always there, and couldn't be accounted to long distance since countries like Japan or Singapore were fine. I'm going to hazard a guess and say that there's something intangible (which could probably be best ascribed to 'quality of life', as vague as it sounds) that makes very competent people stay in or go back to Europe, and this limits the brain drain somewhat and maintains competition for lower wages on this side of the Atlantic.