>Sure Europeans get paid less - but they also get a bunch of great benefits like time off and government paid health care, so it works out

At $45,284 the US has the highest household net disposable income per capita in the OECD (<http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/united-states/>), where "disposable income" (<http://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=46>" accounts for healthcare and government benefits.