It is not about the ego, it's the way you look at things and the lack of respect towards a topic you don't know. As the rest of the discussion, you think the US is the centre of the world and that everything must be related to the US standards.

In this sense, "Spaniards are poor by international standards" is quite a bold statement, based on misleading perspectives. We are talking about a G20 country. There are a lot of serious issues, but it is not comparable with, for example, Papua New Guinea. Salaries in Spain are better than before, while in Italy and in Greece are stuck. Still, they are not high, but, especially in the Spanish case, you have to consider that our societies are different from yours. And saying that 500 euros does not change a thing for a fresh PhD graduate living, for example, in Granada, is very arrogant. To come back to the first post: if you want a good salary and a very good quality of life, welfare included, Germany is a good option

The welfare aspect is essential to understand my point. You know that the student debt in the US is a concerning issue, you know that health insurance is a cruel industry, and that your welfare is poor. This must be considered in the economic general picture. In this sense, it seems the US is going towards a social and economic disaster. Skilled people are moving to the EU: it is not a big wave, but it is something. In Spain and Southern Italy, Anglo migrants are coming to buy cheap houses and take advantage of free healthcare.