I've never been to U.S , I don't want to move to U.S but I can't ignore the fact that U.S leads the world.
Most of the major technologies and big corporations are in the U.S (MS, Novell, IBM, Dell, Google etc...)
but WHY ???
what preventing other countries to lead the way in this area ?
is it money ? many other countries (Scandinavian, Japan...) have money.
is it great minds ? Israel have LOTS of great minds too (but we known as developers of medicine and weapons mostly).

so what is it ?
why isn't there a major corporations like MS outside U.S ?

easy agriculture must have a lot to do with it.

An American is a salesman, the American way!

the us goverment helps us companys by spying on foreign companys and use the legalsystem to stop outside companys to succeed in usa

An American is an American, the American way!

you gave no real information so far

M$'s business practices wouldn't be tolerated outside the US.
At least one of the co-founders of Google is an immigrant.
You brought up Israel, every major tech manufacturer I can think of has a lot of R & D in Israel.
The US is generally rather pro-business and has comparatively lax labor laws. This, combined with idiotic trade policies with China, allow a potential US computer manufacturer to start up relatively easily.

Um, no.

Eli

i guess i'd also mention our weakness for clarity.

Immigration.

The USA is a country where you can have a new life and as a result it has drawn a lot of people from all over the world to come there.

Some of these immigrants and children of immigrants were very smart people such as Herman Hollerith (German heritage), Albert Einstein (Germany), Alexander Graham Bell (Scotland), Henry Ford (Father from Ireland), Walt Disney (ancestors from Ireland), etc.

These people have helped to create businesses and corporations that are now world leaders thanks to innovativeness and two world wars.

The USA was safe from the wars that raged through Europe so it's businesses got a competitive advantage.

The USA has a great media empire so their values and ideas are spread across the world faster than any other nation.

The USAs culture is very impressive because of it's melting together of different nationalities. Jazz and R & B (African and American influences), Andy Worhol (Slovakian ancestors), etc.

I suppose you could say that the USA is great because of every other nationality in the world.

And why did all these people want to come here? Freedom. Freedom to do as well as their talents allow. Freedom to keep more of their income. Freedom to do and say as they please.

Unfortunately, many of these freedoms are under attack these days. The US is still one the freest nations out there, but we seem to be trending towards the pack.

Taxes, I'm pretty damn sure that is is because of the very low taxes. For example, Rich people in Scandinavia, as Maxim mentioned, can pay upwards and above half of their income in taxes... In USA they get to keep their money so they start their companies there.

We excel at the things that we consider to be important: money, business, stuff. We are way behind in things we don't consider important: environment, healthcare for the masses, etc. It's a matter of priority. In many ways America does lead, because we have a mercenary mindset. I recently heard someone speaking against the war in Iraq and the reason they mentioned is that it's hard on the middle class -- no mention of morals at all, just finances. That's why we're ahead in money and business.

I think it really boils down to the open market system. Anyone and everyone just about is free to open a business here. Add immigration, tax incentives, and all the rest and it really snowballs. We encourage businesses to open and sell their products and services because it leads to getting those things cheaper. We're lazy so be buy a lot of things, but we're also cheap.

But what do I know, I'm a disloyal American.

Productivity, culture, education, immigration.

Productivity: The USA has the most productive workforce in the world. The USA has led the world in this aspect since the 1960s. Other countries are catching up though!

Culture: Contrary to stereotype Americans work hard. As a nation America is full of highly motivated people who love money. I have plenty of family and friends in the USA and many of them are not shy of holding two or three jobs and working over twice the hours of an average European.

Also many Americans are competitive people by nature, not just in their jobs, but during their education, on the sport field, with their neighbours, etc...

Education: Of the top 10 Universities in the world, 8 are in the USA. Go to the MIT during finals and the library will be open 24 hours a day. The top American Universities also rule the world in terms of research and development.

Immigration: This is changing, but historically the USA has used immigration for it's own benefit. American research institutions and companies are not shy of pinching the world's best. And it also works on the other end of the scale, if Americans don't want to work the fields anymore a blind eye is sometimes turned to an illegal immigrant workforce who are not shy of carrying out these jobs.

Finally, you should visit the USA. I love it!!!