Robert M. Gary writes:

Products at less costs define "efficiency" of production.

Offshoring of product components in exchange for a signature on a sales
contract defines technology transfer, and characterizes greed for short-term
gains at the expense of the long term.

France is (and is proud of being ) a socialist country. Only a
Frenchman wouldn't notice that.

France has snapped out of the extremely pro-socialist mentality it once had.
It's now much closer to the European norm, which is admittedly still very
socialist compared to the U.S. Proof of this is that Airbus is willing to
trade its future for the present.

Totally wrong in a capitalist society by definition.

That's one of the problems with a purely capitalist society. Large
corporations owned by large numbers of anonymous shareholders are somewhat of
a pox on society today in many cases, as they have only profit as a priority,
and have no other considerations or corporate conscience at all.

The obligation to
society is to maximize efficiency (i.e. make lots of money by
providing consumers with great value)

The obligation of a corporation in a capitalist society is to make the
greatest amount of money with the least amount of effort. Unfortunately, the
way you describe is only one of several ways to do that, and since it isn't
the most lucrative, it isn't usually the method used.

Less expensive airplane + competition = better consumer value.

What competition?

Competition also equates to less safety, unless aviation is very highly
regulated and the regulations are enforced.

"Barely" is certainly wrong. Airbus shipments and orders continue to
keep pace w/Boeing.

Over the past few years, Boeing has been doing much better. And with mistakes
like the A380 being made on the part of Airbus, and its internal political
management (as opposed to corporate management), Boeing stands to continue
doing better.

If Airbus got out of the business Boeing prices
would probably increase at least 20%. Since the French gov't puts to
much of its own money into Airbus, the effect is France is subsidizing
my flights! I'm ok with that.

Europe is subsidizing Airbus, because it's a government entity, not a private
corporation. Most corporations of non-trivial size in Europe are in bed with
at least one or two European governments; it is considered normal by
Europeans, like bribery.

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