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The U.S. is risking an academic brain drain

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Re: The U.S. is risking an academic brain drain

#171

Post by Raphael »

e59d134d wrote: post #70
CorvusCrypto wrote: post #8

While I don't feel that there is risk of brain drain because of the reasons listed in the article, I do believe there is that risk. To be honest, even though many European countries don't pay as much as the US for the same job, I found much more comfort around the ideas pushed in those countries. The culture I found in Sweden for instance is one that is much better for the employees than the fast-paced top-gun style…

What you say is so true even that micro-level. At my company, we were driven by by high code quality. We would try our best to minimize escalations, we will never release new code on Friday or late in a day because people have lives. We really made sure no one was working late or on weekends. And we were still competitive and profitable business. Then we get bought by a Fortune 500 company. Slowly new rules come in.…

Yeah, don't tell them that. If, at the very end, you get an offer that won't budge, then you can take the cut if you want.

Re: The U.S. is risking an academic brain drain

#172

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

gozur88 wrote: post #54
bauerd wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>US essentially defends the world, allowing other countries to spend money elsewhere. You really think that? I mean come on

I wouldn't say the US defends "the world", but certainly countries like Germany and Japan are getting a pretty good deal from the US taxpayer.

We did a good job taking care of their Yugoslavia problem while they just dragged their feet.

Re: The U.S. is risking an academic brain drain

#173

Post by robotresearcher »

robotresearcher wrote: post #148
amag wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to my calculations 60k in Sweden would land you some 43k after taxes. At 60k the progressive taxes in Sweden are just starting to hurt. Somewhere north of 80k, it starts to feel like you only work for the government...

If you don't understand how progressive taxation works, maybe. High taxes on the marginal dollar after your middle-class life expenses are met isn't so bad.

Particularly if you realize that your late-career taxes paid for the two years of maternity leave your family enjoyed when you were 30 and didn't make a ton of money.

Re: The U.S. is risking an academic brain drain

#174

Post by catawbasam »

ahartmetz wrote: post #170
derping69 wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Russia invading Europe is what's stopping us.

Fun fact: Russia has never once invaded Central Europe. Central / West European countries have invaded Russia a few times. Russia does not need space or natural resources and it would be difficult to conquer its way to the soft factors it is missing. Given the strength of most European countries and their lack of natural resources, the chance of a large war being a net positive for Russia is small. Of course, sometim…

Fun fact: Russia, as the dominant part of the Soviet Union, invaded Poland, which is in central Europe.

Re: The U.S. is risking an academic brain drain

#175

Post by ahhhhhhhhhh »

CorvusCrypto wrote: post #8

While I don't feel that there is risk of brain drain because of the reasons listed in the article, I do believe there is that risk. To be honest, even though many European countries don't pay as much as the US for the same job, I found much more comfort around the ideas pushed in those countries. The culture I found in Sweden for instance is one that is much better for the employees than the fast-paced top-gun style…

I'd take a significant pay cut just to never fucking deal with a health insurance company ever again. I've literally made decisions on jobs based on their health insurance plan and it's so fucking stupid.

Re: The U.S. is risking an academic brain drain

#176

Post by robotresearcher »

throthrothis wrote: post #127
robotresearcher wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Canada is getting some great talent right now. Americans, Brits, and people who would have gone to the US or UK are coming here. If we can keep them here, this will be a big boost for Canada long term.

I made the move to Canada some years back. Coincidentally, there was a thread about H1B and here is my comment why I moved to Canada. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15100981

I moved to Canada to escape the George W. Bush presidency. I couldn't in good conscience pay taxes to support the Iraq war. I took a 40% salary cut but the next few years dropped the US$ rapidly and made me some of that back. Also my family health costs dropped dramatically, making up more than the rest.

Re: The U.S. is risking an academic brain drain

#177

Post by alphonsegaston »

corporateslave3 wrote: post #59
dv_dt wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An oversupply of PhDs or our capitalist system not aligning in a way to advance us in ways that don't model a ROI in three years or less?

No just an oversupply of people that really arent smart enough to push their fields forwards, they are just highly "educated". PHDs at average schools can be done by most people willing to put in long hours, we need to stop conflating these "highly educated" people with actual ingenuity. Capitalism rightly casts them off to the side.

https://www.youarenotsosmart.com/2010/06/07/the-just-world-f...

Re: The U.S. is risking an academic brain drain

#178

Post by dnautics »

rdtsc wrote: post #36

> The U.S. is risking an academic brain drain He got a good offer from his home country. Isn't that a good thing that he gets to go home to his country and contribute there? he fact they can spare $250k for him to buy a house and $1M in grant money says a lot about China. Having been in academia for a bit, it seemed there was an oversupply of PhD in some fields. There are just not going to be enough university teachi…

If we're being really honest with ourselves, the likelihood that he will get a faculty position is quite low. Here, he faces discrimination because colleges aren't interested in having another Asian name with the risk of being a lecturer that student's cant understand - and Asians are overrepresented anyways. He might as well take an offer from a country that is welcoming to him.

Re: The U.S. is risking an academic brain drain

#179

Post by dnautics »

deong wrote: post #110
HillaryBriss wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the article notes that US universities take 50% of a professor's research grant as operating overhead! (in China it's 10%.) maybe US universities are just not efficient enough. maybe US universities are basically bloated, government subsidized fat-cats that cannot compete in the global marketplace.

The university system was the envy of the world when it was run like a government program. It was only when we started running them like businesses that the system has gone pear-shaped.

there's a strong argument that the university system was destroyed when it was started to be run like a government program.

http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/saving-science

Re: The U.S. is risking an academic brain drain

#180

Post by p1esk »

refurb wrote: post #135
CorvusCrypto wrote: post #8

While I don't feel that there is risk of brain drain because of the reasons listed in the article, I do believe there is that risk. To be honest, even though many European countries don't pay as much as the US for the same job, I found much more comfort around the ideas pushed in those countries. The culture I found in Sweden for instance is one that is much better for the employees than the fast-paced top-gun style…

This is interesting. I work for a Swiss company with an office in SV. We often joke about our European employees and their work-life balance. Well, I ended up working with a team in Switzerland and holy crap, they work hard! Emails coming in at all hours of the night, meetings that go well past dinner time. I didn't notice any difference in work life balance. Our office has the same vacation policy as HQ, so even tha…

How do the salaries in Switzerland compare to SV?
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