Yet the Siemens affair also shows how far Europe still lags behind America in prosecuting bribery.
But many of the companies behind America's infrastructure are tightly regulated and can't easily pass on new costs to customers.
Taxpayers in effect stand behind such schemes, just as they eventually had to stand behind America's savings and loan industry.
It became the world's third-biggest fabless chipmaker by revenue in the first quarter of this year, behind America's Broadcom and Qualcomm.
Japan helped pay for the American bases (and still does), but otherwise was left to grow rich behind America's military shield.
The Rumsfeld report was one of the impulses behind America's renewed interest in missile defence, to which Mr Bush is committed.
Japan lags well behind America and Europe in restructuring its banking sector.
This lack of training is one of the main reasons why Europe's productivity growth over the past two decades has persistently lagged behind America's.
Bombardier entered the aircraft business only 12 years ago, yet the snow-mobile maker now occupies third place behind America's Boeing and Europe's Airbus Industrie.
But for others, like Malakar, that overexposure may not be a bad thing, opines Jake Halpern, author of Fame Junkies: The Hidden Truth Behind America's Favorite Addiction.
That would be a record haul for Britain, and place it fourth overall, behind America (103), China (94, down from 100 when it hosted), and Russia (67).
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But for others, like Pratt and Montag, overexposure may not be a bad thing, opines Jake Halpern, author of Fame Junkies: The Hidden Truth Behind America's Favorite Addiction.
The IMF, however, notes that taking into account automatic stabilisers, such as welfare payments to the unemployed, Germany's fiscal response is not as far behind America's as it appears.
Many of the factors behind America's gas boom, including liberal regulation of pipelines (which encouraged wildcat exploration by small producers), a well-aimed subsidy and abundant drill-rigs, do not exist elsewhere.
The costs to Europe of overgrown welfare systems are plain: its citizens pay for redistribution with high taxes, which may be one reason why Europe's economic performance has lagged behind America's.
Growth has consistently lagged behind America's in recent years, particularly in continental Europe, where unemployment rates often hover near double digits (well above 10% in the cases of Germany and Belgium).
"Gun crime in Britain is about 10 years behind America, so we have 10 years to stop things getting so bad we have people who think they are gun slingers on the streets, " said Mrs Lynch.
Liebler and Jake Halpern, author of Fame Junkies: The Hidden Truth Behind America's Favorite Addiction, found that teenagers who described themselves as often or always depressed were more likely to believe that becoming a celebrity would make them happier.
With America's defence firms having merged into a handful of giants, Tony Blair, Helmut Kohl and Lionel Jospin have been talking about the need to consolidate the defence firms of Britain, Germany and France so that they do not slip irrevocably behind America's (see article).
This ratio of smartphone impressions to advanced phones is third behind North America and Europe.
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Many observers expect mobile telehealth to take off in mobile-loving South Korea and Japan, but to lag behind in America, where consumers are more likely to raise privacy concerns.
Behind Bank of America one finds Merck and Borders, completing the 2011 largest job cutters-podium.
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It does not want to go too deep into Europe, if that means leaving America behind.
Though banking standards have certainly risen a lot in recent years, they still lag behind those of America and the European Union, particularly in terms of transparency.
Citibank, with an estimated 800, 000 mobile customers, ranks No. 5 in mobile banking, Celent said, behind Bank of America Corp. at No. 1 with an estimated 5 million users.
With the acquisition of ING Direct, Capital One has become the fifth largest consumer bank by deposit behind Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo.
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According to his system of scoring these indicators, France and Germany both lag some way behind Britain and America in their treatment of minority investors, but have made improvements in the past year.
But at the same time, what they're asking is now that the President or the administration should have some kind of debate on race or against hate in America, a national debate that will help them bring all those issues behind -- facing America today.
America seemed left behind, ossified, as other parts of the Western world, which generally share America's culture and values, revised their views and rules on social issues.
One factor behind disappointed expectations of America's performance could be the behaviour of consumers.
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