Competition, made up of two Latin words, cum and petere, means to seek together. What every businessman seeks is profit; he seeks it together with his competitors in the paradoxical relationship we call competition.
Yes. But, business isn't the true application of competition, is it? Competition can be like two sprinters trying to be the fastest runner. They can push each other to be their individual best, not to beat the other, but to be that best.
Business for profit is about beating the other, not about being the best.
Then, within a very few years, the Americans became the great innovators.
Do you believe this to be true? I do not.
And, I will add that all of your examples, are from periods of time prior to mass media and the internet. There is far more homogenization of thought now, which is what I am actually talking about in the article piece. This homogenization changes the normal distribution of people playing in the creative fields, narrowing the pool of the next iteration of innovators, and the range their innovations will take.