1) Europe (a non-existent as a nation, even purely geographically it's blurry) is in crisis/dying/crumbling. Optional addition: because socialism.
2) The solution is to be like the glorious USA.
We can't discount valid criticism just because we suspect it may be motivated by the wrong political agenda. We have to ask if it's true.
Admittedly, the report doesn't make it easy to do that because it doesn't explain how exactly they calculate these rankings, and some of the sideswipes against privacy concerns are clearly misplaced and irrelevant.
But I think there can be very little doubt that Europe's digital economy is lagging badly behind the US and arguably falling further behind. If we don't wake up before the digital revolution eats Europe's auto industry and in the process ruins high tech equipment makers and robotics, we are on a trajectory to become a third world economy.
A complex issue no doubt - but I can't stand opinions dressed as "sciencey" research.
People also respond to these kinds of messages. I visited the US this August, when the euro crisis was often making the news. Several people were seriously and non-sarcastically concerned with my capacity for paying for my own lunch or hotel. They were very surprised when I told them that the euro is worth more or less the same as always in relation to the dollar.
I cant wait for Steve Bongs take on this in the register
I get that the US is big and diverse and dynamic. But the EU is far bigger (population wise) and far more culturally / economically / politically diverse.