4 ms·

There is a reason for which there have been no big French or European company founded after WW2 (1945). The reason is called socialism. Think about it. BMW, Mer

There is a reason for which there have been no big French or European company founded after WW2 (1945). The reason is called socialism. Think about it. BMW, Mercedes, Siemens, Loreal, Peugot, you name it! No Google from Europe, no Microsoft, no Oracle, or Tesla, or whatever. Not a single big company from the EU after 1945. Especially overregulated places like France. I met a French clothes designer in New York recently. He told me he escaped Paris and France because he couldn't afford to open fashion house in Paris. He told me that just to open a fashion design shop in France he would need to pay 15,000 euros (about 20,000 USD) in fees in taxes to the Government. Just to obtain a few pieces of paper from the Government to be able to start the business. Just to open. No profit yet, doesn't know if it will work out or not, has no customers. Using his life savings or going into debt to start his own business and contribute to the society. Penalized to the point he said good bye. He escaped to the USA. Good job Hollande!

vacri 14y ago
Tesla is a big company? Bigger than Virgin? Pull the other one, it's got bells on. I'm not saying incorporation is not stupidly expensive in Europe, but lets keep it balanced.
- 3pt14159 14y ago
  He means non-UK Europe.
- josephlord 14y ago
  And in the software field a little company called SAP AG and elsewhere in the technology field a little phone company called Vodafone.
  - claudius 13y ago
    Not to mention the giants coming from privatisation of previous publicly owned industries – e.g. Deutsche Post, Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Bahn. The difference to the US seems to be that many businesses that grew after WW2 already existed beforehand (e.g. Aldi) and/or didn’t really grow, but still outcompete everybody else in their respective fields (SME aka German Mittelstand).
lifeisstillgood 14y ago
The USA is a massive massive home market and has been since 1945. If you succeed in USA, then the past century has almost assured you will succeed globally. Put in place that most of the big companies mentioned are huge successes mostly in IT - and the distortion becomes more obvious - IT plays homage to the network effect, the biggest home market in the world is the USA, so get yout IT play right there, you get it right everywhere. When a home-grown IT company busts out of India or China (or rather out of Bangalore or Chengdu) then it will be time to blame overregulation.
jgrahamc 14y ago
There is a reason for which there have been no big French or European company founded after WW2 (1945). So, the following don't count? Bouygues (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouygues http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouygues) founded in 1952. Large conglomerate with 130,000 employees world wide. Capgemini (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capgemini http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capgemini) founded in 1967. One of the largest IT consulting firms in the world. Carrefour (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrefour http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrefour) founded in 1958. It is the second largest retail group in the world. JCDecaux (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JCDecaux http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JCDecaux) founded in 1964. The largest outdoor advertising firm in the world. Sodexo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodexo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodexo) founded in 1966. One of the largest food service companies in the world. etc.
- seanmcdirmid 14y ago
  > Sodexo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodexo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodexo) founded in 1966. One of the largest food service companies in the world. I now can blame the French for the spotty food service in my company.
- LekkoscPiwa 13y ago
  I'm sorry, never heard of most of them. And still as socialism progressed less and less were able to grow really big as your own timeline indicates. The companies from your list are not innovative enough too. They are not like Benz that was first cars manufacturer in the world. Or Microsoft that was the first software company in the world. Yeah, they opened a few stores more than others, or are one of a bazillion successful IT consultancies. That's not innovation. And innovation is this what requires friendly tax regimes and little to no regulation. That's why it's not happening in the EU.
cgrand-net 14y ago
I know a French clothes designer who manages to bootstrap her business despite a shoestring budget and having the clothes made in France. http://www.afleurdorgies.fr/ http://www.afleurdorgies.fr/
brown9-2 14y ago
The extent of your argument seems to be "socialism", "just think about it", and one anecdote. If we are going to boil down a country's economic history to one word can we at least be more reasoned about it and elaborate more?

vacri 14y ago

Tesla is a big company? Bigger than Virgin? Pull the other one, it's got bells on. I'm not saying incorporation is not stupidly expensive in Europe, but lets keep it balanced.

3pt14159 14y ago
He means non-UK Europe.
josephlord 14y ago
And in the software field a little company called SAP AG and elsewhere in the technology field a little phone company called Vodafone.
- claudius 13y ago
  Not to mention the giants coming from privatisation of previous publicly owned industries – e.g. Deutsche Post, Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Bahn. The difference to the US seems to be that many businesses that grew after WW2 already existed beforehand (e.g. Aldi) and/or didn’t really grow, but still outcompete everybody else in their respective fields (SME aka German Mittelstand).

lifeisstillgood 14y ago

The USA is a massive massive home market and has been since 1945. If you succeed in USA, then the past century has almost assured you will succeed globally. Put in place that most of the big companies mentioned are huge successes mostly in IT - and the distortion becomes more obvious - IT plays homage to the network effect, the biggest home market in the world is the USA, so get yout IT play right there, you get it right everywhere. When a home-grown IT company busts out of India or China (or rather out of Bangalore or Chengdu) then it will be time to blame overregulation.

jgrahamc 14y ago

There is a reason for which there have been no big French or European company founded after WW2 (1945). So, the following don't count? Bouygues (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouygues http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouygues) founded in 1952. Large conglomerate with 130,000 employees world wide. Capgemini (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capgemini http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capgemini) founded in 1967. One of the largest IT consulting firms in the world. Carrefour (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrefour http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrefour) founded in 1958. It is the second largest retail group in the world. JCDecaux (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JCDecaux http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JCDecaux) founded in 1964. The largest outdoor advertising firm in the world. Sodexo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodexo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodexo) founded in 1966. One of the largest food service companies in the world. etc.

seanmcdirmid 14y ago
> Sodexo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodexo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodexo) founded in 1966. One of the largest food service companies in the world. I now can blame the French for the spotty food service in my company.
LekkoscPiwa 13y ago
I'm sorry, never heard of most of them. And still as socialism progressed less and less were able to grow really big as your own timeline indicates. The companies from your list are not innovative enough too. They are not like Benz that was first cars manufacturer in the world. Or Microsoft that was the first software company in the world. Yeah, they opened a few stores more than others, or are one of a bazillion successful IT consultancies. That's not innovation. And innovation is this what requires friendly tax regimes and little to no regulation. That's why it's not happening in the EU.

cgrand-net 14y ago

I know a French clothes designer who manages to bootstrap her business despite a shoestring budget and having the clothes made in France. http://www.afleurdorgies.fr/ http://www.afleurdorgies.fr/

brown9-2 14y ago

The extent of your argument seems to be "socialism", "just think about it", and one anecdote. If we are going to boil down a country's economic history to one word can we at least be more reasoned about it and elaborate more?