> Europe's problem in this area seems to be inability to build a mechanism to realize large, unprofitable projects.
I don't disagree with this take completely, especially in regards to IT infrastructure, but I don't think that this explanation captures the main problem.
There are clear counterexamples for large European no-profit infrastructure (CERN, ITER) or even currently ongoing projects (e.g. railway infrastructure like the Brenner base or Fehmarn tunnel).
My take is that there simply was no strong enough incentive to spend a lot of money/effort to duplicate American offerings just to stay independent, but the current US admin is providing sufficient incentives to start spending on this, and while independence is nice in general, I think this is overall just a huge waste.
I don't disagree with this take completely, especially in regards to IT infrastructure, but I don't think that this explanation captures the main problem.
There are clear counterexamples for large European no-profit infrastructure (CERN, ITER) or even currently ongoing projects (e.g. railway infrastructure like the Brenner base or Fehmarn tunnel).
My take is that there simply was no strong enough incentive to spend a lot of money/effort to duplicate American offerings just to stay independent, but the current US admin is providing sufficient incentives to start spending on this, and while independence is nice in general, I think this is overall just a huge waste.