National Review Online has an interesting article on "The Transatlantic Innovation Gap," comparing America and Europe on pharmaceutical research.

A key point: "More important than cultural disparities are the differences in regulatory regimes. In spite of recent legislative efforts, Europe still doesn't have a decent regime of intellectual property protection, which leaves companies uncertain about the profitability of any investments they are looking to make. America's fortunes turned when it got serious about promoting R&D through the 1980 Bayh-Dole act. Europe's fortunes deteriorated because of a constant stream of regulations, all aimed at limiting the freedom of research institutes to do their work quickly and efficiently."