Using eBay buying Skype and Sun buying MySql as proof of the superiority of the US system seems a little tenuous, since both those American companies seem to be

Using eBay buying Skype and Sun buying MySql as proof of the superiority of the US system seems a little tenuous, since both those American companies seem to be headed down fast (while the European ones produce actual quality products), and the ease of buying out foreign competitors was largely due to the availability of easy money that's at the heart of the current credit crisis. Meanwhile the larger trend, due to the US's status as the world's largest debtor, has been the other way - foreigners buying up US companies, despite significant regulatory barriers that the US government has put up.