>>713971168
this. take the average gross salary of a senior software engineer, a well-paid white collar job.
>Poor euro countries (Greece, Romania): $30K
>Average euro countries (France, Germany): $50K
>Rich euro countries (Switzerland, Norway): $80K
meanwhile across the ocean
>USA as a whole: $100K
>USA, Bay Area: $250K
combine that with much heavier taxes and no such thing as tax deductibles and the average European has far less disposable income than his American counterpart.
also the gap has only widened in recent years and will continue to do so. Western Europe is slipping into 2nd world territory.