Originally posted by: Starbuck1975
So you are saying big government and protectionism are good for Airbus business? This can't be true. We all know big government and protectionism are burdens on business.
Typically this is true, with the exception perhaps of markets and industries that have huge cost restrictive barriers of entry, are defined by proprietary technologies & innovation, and the competitors that do exist receive government protection. The commercial aircraft industry is essentially dominated by Boeing and Airbus...the lifecycle of an airplane from inception through design into production can take nearly a decade...Boeing is not suffering for lack of talented engineers or an understanding of the industry...what they are learning is to be more cost effective through the design and manufacturing process, and this will pay off for them as they launch 7E7.
Boeing is a gravy sucker, just as much as airbus
The bizarre thing about commercial aircraft is just how inefficient the industry is as a whole...can you imagine how much a car would cost if the auto industry was structured anything like commercial aircraft.
If anything, this competition between Boeing and Airbus is healthy...it is fostering innovation and forcing both companies to react, which are the healthy elements of a free market...however, when you have governments bailing out companies, they fail to learn from their mistakes, do not innovate, and otherwise stagnates certain elements of the industry.