I think there are lots of reasons the US economy is more dynamic, but I don't think expensive university is it. Hiring and firing is easier/faster. More freedom for businesses in general. The rural area in Germany where I grew up in had no McDonald's because you somehow need permission from existing businesses to open a competitor. I don't fully understand this, but would lose all composure if this craziness were to stop me from opening a business. It's also easy to underestimate the massive boost that comes from a huge, trustingly homogenous market. I build a web app business in the US and there are 350 million customers right there. No need to translate into a bunch of languages, advertise in a bunch of languages. Regulations between states might differ, but there usually are solutions already in place because so many businesses have the cross-state issues (taxes or whatever).