Where's the great wealth, economic growth, high productivity, and high incomes? The majority of Europe is languishing very badly and it's getting worse by the year.
> $40K/year for similar academics you get almost for free in Europe.
It's not free at all, and everyone knows it's not free.
Let's see you do the final tally, which includes income across a lifetime vs tax rates.
Europeans pay epic taxes in part for that 'free' college. The US middle class pays very low taxes by comparison. That has to be factored into the equation.
The US middle class is richer than the middle class in: Sweden, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia, Greece, Poland and Czechia among numerous others.
The US median wealth figure is comparable to Norway.
I think it's important to restate that: the US middle class is richer than the middle class in Sweden, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands and Denmark - you know, just four of the supposedly best off nations in world history.
So where are the great results for that non-free education?