EU officials have charged that the case was politically motivated. And their defense wasn't?

My initial comment was so brilliant, I will repeat it, with the additional observation that the Bush Administration may finally have realized it was in a battle it will _never_ win. Has to be a first time for everything.
====================

As far as I can see Airbus is doing exactly what it was intended to do: break the US monopoly in transport aircraft (Russia and the Ukraine not being seriously considered outside former SovBloc national airlines), reduce European dependence on the US for certain key technologies, and put a stick in the eye of Washington (DC that is, not State, although them too).

That is what Airbus was designed to do, that is what it is doing, and that is what all the EU entities involved want it to do. Look at the A400 project for pity's sake. The airplanes are available off-the-shelf from the US or Ukraine, but noooooooo - EADS has to build their own.

Economic or legal analysis will never touch this: it is pure political hardball.

Cranky

Agreed, Cranky Observer.

Disgusted with the esoteric jackasses here and their fallacious theories. Univs propagandized the too young, too inexperienced, and clueless. Yuppies and boomers fraud and con job on the country.

They mock and scorn while millions of their fellow citizens are struggling to earn their living now and the country goes down the tubes.

Such jackasses are traitors and need to be called that now whenever they cross our paths.
Many out there still care about this country.

Alex,
While I do sometimes find the convoluted antics of academics, particularly academic economists, amusing, I can't say I agree with your post. In fact, I _disagree_ with everything you say.

Cranky

Your country is going down, down, down right before your eyes.

The false theories of paper professionals and those in the univs has been destroying the country. It's been a con on the country that should have been halted twenty five years ago.
Yuppies, educated idiots/ pinhead dopes/intellecutals. A disgrace to your grandfathers and their legacy.

They gorge on cheap foreign made products for everything they pick up... and laugh at the millions of their fellow citizens put out of work --who are struggling to eat and to stay out of the weather.

Yes,they are traitors to those who really care about this country. Finally, we are going to call them as we see them.