Americans are terrible at building transit infrastructure. They struggle to build basic metro extensions for the New York subway. California is still struggling to build high speed rail. Any infrastructure project is always extraordinarily expensive and slow.
Americans are terrible at urbanism. Their road design is a disaster.
American struggle at manufacturing. Their cars simply aren’t reliable. They are a joke. They struggle to make computer chips. Intel is failing. Both Biden and Trump asked TSMC to come to the US
Yet americans are exceptionally good at software
Why?
Unpopular opinion: Immigration probably has a lot to do with it. Tech pays really well and they can recruit talent from across the globe (and bring them together in the US). You don’t hear too much about infrastructure or manufacturing industries recruiting on top talent from across the globe (they do rely on them for staffing shortages, but they are not seeking them out the same way tech scours the globe for employees).
Not even unpopular. Lady Liberty herself says so on her plaque. That whole thing about the melting pot, too.
Edit: it is less popular today amongst chuds