Other anecdote was: "if there is $20 on the ground in Grand Central, don't bother picking it up because if it was real someone would already take it". Taxes an

Other anecdote was: "if there is $20 on the ground in Grand Central, don't bother picking it up because if it was real someone would already take it". Taxes and regulations are complicated, it is not "just hire a contractor", market is not all knowing and all optimizing because there is no global market, each country has its own market, because of taxes, regulations, visas. You still have to have trusted contractor otherwise you risk money. Good luck chasing someone from the other part of globe if something goes really bad. For setting up branch office, that costs a lot of money and time. If you have medium business and you are a company owner you don't have time to manage an office 1k miles away. You have to spend time getting customers and selling, again you don't want to waste time on learning tax code in some other country. I bet also most people would rather earn money locally and spend time with their family. There is a huge opportunity cost.