Have Western Europeans basically lost their creative mojo since 1945? I mean if you look at it, Americans are more individualistic than say, French, Swedes, or Germans, who have a more hive like mentality, and thus are more creative. Or maybe European, as evidence by their long vacations, are lazier and thus less creative than than workaholic Americans? I mean Silicon Valley started in California, rather than the Rhineland, Britanny, or the Ruhr. And it can be argued that the most talented Europeans immigrated to America in the 19th century, and the ones to could not hack it in America's individualistic culture were left in Europe or returned back to the old country. Also maybe it could be argued that this divergence was seen as early as 1914, when the US had a higher per capita GDP than all the other European great powers like the UK, France, or Germany.