Economists never agree on anything ...
on
Building the A380
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· Score: 1
Some background info from an unemployed economist:
Point One: First a disclaimer-"Although economists and common sense agree"- economists are never able to agree about even the most trivial issues (as for having common sense, the less said about that, the better). Second, its a tit for tat argument, as the US government has not exactly been very rational with the economics relating to its tanker deal, where it'll pay Boeing more cash to lease 100 tankers than it would spend if it took outright ownership of them. [http://www.pogo.org/p/contracts/ca-020509-bailout.html]
Point Two: The concept that applies here is comparative versus absolute advantange. The basis of all trade is to make use of the relative advantages that different countries/regions/people have when it comes to producing goods (after accounting for relevant transport costs). It makes rational sense to allocate the construction across Europe as it exploits the respective skills of different regions in the best way possible, e.g. the Brits make the best wings, so they build them, while the Germans design the most suitable fuselages, which leads them to have that contract.
Anyway, you forget that the "Europe" you mention is the European Economic Community, so the goods used to make the A-380 are sourced from the common European market. Would you complain about "importing" OJ from Florida if you were living in Alaska? Not likely, as oranges seem to grow easier in one place than the other.
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Some background info from an unemployed economist:
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Point One: First a disclaimer-"Although economists and common sense agree"- economists are never able to agree about even the most trivial issues (as for having common sense, the less said about that, the better). Second, its a tit for tat argument, as the US government has not exactly been very rational with the economics relating to its tanker deal, where it'll pay Boeing more cash to lease 100 tankers than it would spend if it took outright ownership of them. [http://www.pogo.org/p/contracts/ca-020509-bailou
Point Two: The concept that applies here is comparative versus absolute advantange. The basis of all trade is to make use of the relative advantages that different countries/regions/people have when it comes to producing goods (after accounting for relevant transport costs). It makes rational sense to allocate the construction across Europe as it exploits the respective skills of different regions in the best way possible, e.g. the Brits make the best wings, so they build them, while the Germans design the most suitable fuselages, which leads them to have that contract.
Anyway, you forget that the "Europe" you mention is the European Economic Community, so the goods used to make the A-380 are sourced from the common European market. Would you complain about "importing" OJ from Florida if you were living in Alaska? Not likely, as oranges seem to grow easier in one place than the other.