A great article. The cultural and political factors are a major reason why it'll be very hard for any other region to compete with Silicon Valley. The Silicon Valley Doomsayers have no sense of history. - Piaw Na

Silicon Valley will for sure not go away, however, alternatives are going to be created in Asia, these are going to compete. Money may be moving too. With the way US Govt treat foreigners you don't feel welcome. They now fingerprint all the "evil greencarders" again. Last I heard we're all stealing all their jobs. The last few nobel prizes also has gone to many not-born-in-amercia americans. Why aren't they complaining about that? Now, there is going to be a backlash regarding this at some point... - Jonas S Karlsson

I'm one of those foreigners. Even with a green card, I had access to Pell Grants, work-study programs, and as a grad student, tuition waivers and stipends. I remember being amazed at how generous the US was to immigrants when I showed up at the financial aid office with my father's tax returns from Singapore. While things might have gotten worse since I became a citizen, it's still very likely that the same person is worth a lot more in Silicon Valley than he is in Singapore, India, or China. - Piaw Na

@Piaw, @Jonas, more and more of my intelligent younger friends in India are choosing to study and work in India. The F1 visa process has become so painful to navigate and local opportunities are plentiful that people prefer to look for local pastures - Thaths

@Jonas and what is with this new business of fingerprinting Permanent Residents? i did not see any coverage about it in the newspapers. I just returned from a trip and a gruff immigration officer asked me to place my fingers on this device without telling me why or whether I had a choice. - Thaths

When I hang out in Silicon Valley, I see teams and groups from entirely different parts of the world. That's not true almost anywhere else in the world. - Piaw Na