Albert Tatlock Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 According to the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4886154.stm UK defence and aerospace group BAE Systems has confirmed it is in discussions to sell its 20% stake in European aircraft-maker Airbus. Could this not be construed as economic vandalism? Britain seems to have started the industrial revolution - yet seems be the the first to have pulled out of the industrial revolution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GD4ELI Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 According to the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4886154.stm UK defence and aerospace group BAE Systems has confirmed it is in discussions to sell its 20% stake in European aircraft-maker Airbus. Could this not be construed as economic vandalism? Britain seems to have started the industrial revolution - yet seems be the the first to have pulled out of the industrial revolution. There's much more to industry than heavy engineering like this. This is manufacturing, not innovation which can be much more profitable. You forgot to quote: "It added that there would be no implications for Airbus' 13,000 UK staff if and when a sale goes through", so all we have is a change of ownership, a natural process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted April 7, 2006 Author Share Posted April 7, 2006 There's much more to industry than heavy engineering like this. This is manufacturing, not innovation which can be much more profitable. You forgot to quote: "It added that there would be no implications for Airbus' 13,000 UK staff if and when a sale goes through", so all we have is a change of ownership, a natural process. dah di dah di dah dah di dah This is innovation and manufacturing! - a bit like Rover used to be before Honda/BMW etc. And there were 'no implications' then either! Who sold Rover to Honda? Many analysts expect Airbus' plane deliveries to peak in 2008. It's what comes after that for these engineers is really the important issue. I did quote the above - by highlighting the entire article. dah di dah ...I used to be a GD4 a few years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnieK Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Could this not be construed as economic vandalism? Britain seems to have started the industrial revolution - yet seems be the the first to have pulled out of the industrial revolution. Not if the sale of Bae's shares allow it to persue more profitable lines of business. Britain was the cradle of the industrial revolution, but that ended two centuries ago - time to move on and leave the meat and potatoes manufacturing to whoever can do it cheapest and most efficiently. Airbus is hardly an innovator (bar coming up with what might be the biggest white elephant in history and making it fly) it's a cumbersome statist exercise in delaying the inevitable migration of manufacturing jobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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