My point is that hybrid cars are an entirely Western innovation.
I’m not doubting that Japan is currently the world-leader in getting these into the hands of American Consumers (thanks in no small part to Japanese government regulation). But they are still capitalizing on what is ultimately an American design.
Western innovation is not equal to American design. It wasn’t design in America. I still don’t see your point. You stated that I think there is world of difference between a culture that encourages innovation vs. one of replication (not passing judgment either way). American seems to excel at the former at the expense of the latter where Asia is vice-versa. So you’re saying Asian countries excel in replication and not innovation. Yet, all the innovations that comes into play to get us American the toys we want at a decent price were all done by Asian countries.
Yes, but Asian’s account for 60% of the worlds population.
But not all of those 60% can afford to go over here. Don’t forget that majority of those 60% are in extreme poverty. Those people make homeless here look rich. So I don’t get your argument here.
And we clearly have the best engineering schools combined with the best opportunities for graduates to make the most money in the global economy. Hence from a purely statistical (not cultural) standpoint it comes as no surprise to me that our institutes of higher education are loaded with foreigners (or their second-gen descendants)
Didn’t I say I agree with you that we have one of the best engineering schools. That’s why people from those Asian countries come over here. They didn’t want to wait for their country to develop a university that will rival the US universities, so they come here to take advantage of the great universities here. It takes time to build a great education system. Asian countries were in a very different state 100 years ago compare to now.