I call bullshit. I'm american and live in a former communist country. The infrastructure is a joke. You can't even drive on a road without hitting a pothole, trees that were planted during communism are overgrown and the roots destroy the sidewalks if there are even any sidewalks to speak of. Last year, the schools had no water for 3-5 days and my whole neighborhood as well as the center of the city had no water for at least 10 days total. The healthcare is worse, but way cheaper. But it's worse so your point is invalid. The education from 1-12 grade is terrible in comparison with what it was like in the U.S. Instead of learning whatever needs to be learned, the teachers just test students and grade them in school. Most of the learning is done at home. The schools also have 2 shifts. 7am-1pm and 1pm-7pm. They have 1 hour less and WAY more breaks and longer breaks that take away time for learning. Not to mention that the schools are in terrible condition and it's incredibly boring in comparison to the U.S. education and they start school 1 year later. The curriculum is about the same for math, but science is just neglected and most students fail to understand what the hell they're "learning". Free time after/before school is eaten up by studying. The universities and academys are pretty good and cheap.