This gets said a lot and it kind of irks me. (I am a physician.)

US software devs also make 2x what their European colleagues do, but that never gets called out as bloat. Plus US software devs make that 2x pay without taking our additional loans for medical school at the rate of $75k per year or doing years of low pay residency where their salary doesn’t give them the means to pay off those loans.

For what benefit? Graduating medical school with an average of $250k of debt?

Unpaid time off and possible job loss if you have medical issues that require you to be off work? They still worry about health insurance and things like that. Poor work/life balance, no promise of using vacation time, especially weeks at a time? The worry of lawsuits? Little to no job security?

Money isn't everything. Money can't really buy the quality of life that legal protections can - it is harder to lose legal protections.

But in Europe the state also tends to cover their schooling to become a doctor.

And the best of the best of medical students the world over compete to enter the US market. Being US board certified garners the highest pay even outside the US (eg GCC).

It’s kind of like our industry - the higher comp is a big reason behind how the US attracts talent from all over the world.