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I believe it has to do with the fact that the US possesses a vast amount of land, abundant natural resources, a long-standing democracy, no wars on its territor

I believe it has to do with the fact that the US possesses a vast amount of land, abundant natural resources, a long-standing democracy, no wars on its territory for an extended period, and a relatively large population size. If you compare that with other wealthy countries such as Germany, then you'll see that they have less land, fewer natural resources, haven't had democracy for as long, were divided until the late '80s, and do not have as large a population size. Therefore, just by sheer numbers, it makes sense that everything in the US is bigger. Moreover, Germany, for instance, has a culture where wealth is accumulated across a large number of medium-sized companies, whereas in the US, wealth is increasingly concentrated at the top (for example, the ones you mentioned). These are, of course, the entities everyone knows and talks about.

Axsuul 3y ago
It's beyond that – culture. Being ambitious in US is rewarded and celebrated. Plus having the most powerful military in the world makes others want to invest more into the US due to the likelihood it will still be around.
- cosmotic 3y ago
  There's no reward for being JUST ambitious in the US, there's a lot more involved. Luck and willingness to exploit the work of others is a big part of what's required to earn the reward.
- RestlessMind 3y ago
  Adding on to the culture - 1. Even if your idea seems crappy, investors will give you millions to bootstrap it. Uber, Twitter, Doordash, AirBnB, Coinbase, Instacart - all sounded funny before they became billion dollar behemoths. 2. Social norm of hire fast, fire fast - allow startups to quickly scale if they sense some opportunity and quickly ramp down in case that doesn't pan out. Again, different countries have different trade-offs around this. But the American tradeoff makes it much easier to build and grow a startup.
- sofixa 3y ago
  Are you under the impression that being ambitious is looked down upon in Germany or anywhere else outside of a bunch of dictatorships?

Axsuul 3y ago

It's beyond that – culture. Being ambitious in US is rewarded and celebrated. Plus having the most powerful military in the world makes others want to invest more into the US due to the likelihood it will still be around.

cosmotic 3y ago
There's no reward for being JUST ambitious in the US, there's a lot more involved. Luck and willingness to exploit the work of others is a big part of what's required to earn the reward.
RestlessMind 3y ago
Adding on to the culture - 1. Even if your idea seems crappy, investors will give you millions to bootstrap it. Uber, Twitter, Doordash, AirBnB, Coinbase, Instacart - all sounded funny before they became billion dollar behemoths. 2. Social norm of hire fast, fire fast - allow startups to quickly scale if they sense some opportunity and quickly ramp down in case that doesn't pan out. Again, different countries have different trade-offs around this. But the American tradeoff makes it much easier to build and grow a startup.
sofixa 3y ago
Are you under the impression that being ambitious is looked down upon in Germany or anywhere else outside of a bunch of dictatorships?