A thought just occurred to me. With the dollar so low against the euro, won't this project cost a lot more if part of the project is made in Europe -- nevermind all the other considerations? I haven't seen this issue addressed anywhere.I don't know enough about this to come any other conclusion than it's a bad thing for our security, our military and our economy.
8 comments:
Wait, wait, I thought you thought competition was good.
If it's a bigger, better plane, our boys and girls should have it.
Besides, I'd rather transfer dollars to Europe than technology to China, which is what happens when Boeing sells planes to the commies.
Anyhow, there's no such thing as an 'American' plane any more. It's a global economy, remember.
As for your main question, this contract goes on for decades. Don't count on the euro's being worth $1.50 forever.
However, if you're worried about that, buy Bombardier aircraft and you can pay off in loonies
This isn't competition, it's a state subsidized company competing against a private one.
I don't think the current euro exchange rates are going to last much after the election, no matter which way it goes. Even Soros et al. don't have the wherewithal to keep the euro propped up much longer.
My question was is the exchange rate taken into consideration when analyzing the costs?
Do you think this is payoff to Sarkozy for his nice words about us?
My son lives in Toulouse, I wonder how this will affect them?
The Europeans consider Boeing gets plenty of indirect subsidy, and they're right.
The KC-135, the plane that is to be retired, was designed on the government dime.
Boeing then turned around and made it into the 707. Not much private risk there, and we taxpayers didn't get at taste of the profits of the 707 that we'd financed.
What goes around comes around.
Big difference between designing to a customer's specs and being subsidized and making a profit is a feature, not a bug in my lexicon.
Last I heard, Boeing pays taxes just like the rest of us and so do their thousands of employees, suppliers ...
Maybe, but the WTO (the free trade folks) looks at it differently. Just ask Microsoft -- they got fined a billion dollars for giving away free browsers
No good deed goes unpunished. So what. Boeing isn't giving away anything is it?
Well, there was the matter of the bribes.
Boeing was giving those away.
And erp, it has not escaped my notice that you are supporting the unions
here, which you won't do for teachers. I am amused.
I am not amused by the incompetent and ignorant reporting by my colleagues
in the press. There are a lot of complicated issues here that are not
being talked about.
1. Dependence on a single supplier. For two generations, military
procurement officers have fretted that the complexity of weapons systems
drives out competition, leaving the military at the mercy of a monopoly.
In the US, there are only 2 suppliers, Boeing and General Dynamics, and GD
doesn't play in this field. So Boeing can offer up any crap it wants --
unless there's a better alternative in Europe.
2. So what if Europe does subsidize Airbus? That means Europe will
contribute to the west's defensive burden. About freakin' time. And
(giggle) they won't even realize they're doing it.
3. A lot of the $ will be spent in the US anyway. The engines (GE) and (I
will bet) most of the avionics will be US.
These will total at least a quarter and maybe half the total expenditure.
You buy an airframe once, but the avionics are replaced several times over
the life of the plane.
4. US manufacturers make lousy stuff. We'd have been in a hell of a fix in
1942 if we'd had to rely on American antiaircraft guns.
Luckily, we were able to buy or manufacture under license the Bofors
(Sweden) and Oerlikon (Switzerland) guns. Yes, Switzerland!
(US manufacturers also didn't offer any worthy marine diesels, so we
bought MAN designs from Germany, but they weren't any good either. It does
get complicated.)
Harry, I support no union, so if it looks like I am, you know I don't know what I'm talking about.
Maybe the reason everything we make is crap is because its made by union workers.
I can't comment on any of your other points, so I'll concede the game.
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