European Subsidies Let Airbus Fly High

[Mike Ellis]

At work today the plant was abuzz with the rollout of the new Airbus super-sized passenger jet, which has supplanted the 747 as the largest and most luxurious of airliners. Designed to carry 800 passengers, some variants of the jet will include sleeper berths, gyms, cocktail bars, and casinos.

At the rollout, the Europeans crowed with glee at taking the crown from Boeing and dignitaries made several verbal jabs at the USA. They also crowed about keeping the jobs at home, like it was a good thing or something (they obviously have not read enough American MBA books yet)

I am a fan of free market economics myself, but it does make a guy stop and scratch his head - in spite of doing almost everything wrong economically by American standards, the Europeans seem to be prospering. They spend huge bucks on social services, their kids score higher on standardized tests, they have a standard of living on par with the US, their currency is spanking ours, they still have a broad manufacturing base, etc etc etc - all while paying ruinous taxes but working fewer hours and taking longer vacations than America.

How dey do dat?
Aren't they supposed to be failing miserably?