Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let me phrase it this way for you. The best universities are in the US for a lot of things. But they don't scale. In another way, the top talent gets Ferraris for their tuition, the rest gets a bike. In a lot of European countries everyone can get the Toyota Camry of education, decent but not world class. That does scale though. Spending isn't everything, it's how you apply that spending.
I very much disagree with your statement. A lot. As an European I can assure you even public second tier universities have excellent education. Where they lag the rankings is where money matters: politics to be highly ranked and money for high impact research. But when it comes to testing proficiency in e.g. science and math, the second university of Rome ranks higher than most ivy leagues in US ;)
For science/math would you rather go to Rome or MIT? I know which one I would pick if they cost the same. A lot of it is also the people you're surrounded by.