Originally Posted by
Worldguy
I would dare to say that the reasons behind the subsidizing is a cultural phenomenon. Cultural change does not happen overnight, and the Italian culture is more deeply ingrained than some other European cultures and the North American culture.
I would not throw too many stones in this day and age about balanced budgets either. With the massive subsidizing going on right now right here in the good ole 250 year old USofA.
WG
PS: and that is 850 Billion with a "B", which is more than many countries annual GDP btw.
That's not what I am doing and I'm not throwing any stones. Massimo didn't like a 'joke' so I simply asked how Italy got away with subsidizing their flag carrier for this long comparing to other EU nations? I know the issue very well as I was born and raised in Europe.
As far as B as in billion (or M as in milliard as the Brits sometimes call it) - you're right that it's a huge number however, if you look into some other European bailout programs they’ve had in the last 20 years or so, you'll see that per capita number is actually pretty small when compared to their programs. For example the Swedish bailout program in the early 90’s cost actually more per person than our current program.
You know, apples to apples.