Re: the un-economics of space travel
From: Christopher M. Jones (christopher.m.jones_at_gmail.com)
Date: 02/06/05
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Date: Sat, 05 Feb 2005 22:50:31 -0600
Paul F. Dietz wrote:
> mmaker@my-deja.com wrote:
>
>> Also, while I've never really looked into the figures myself, I've seen
>> claims that the airline industry has not made an overall profit in the
>> decades it's existed. So those people might have been right in the
>> first place.
>
> This is probably due to the great capital intensity of the business
> (and government subsidies for national carriers). Such businesses
> often go through crises where over-investment causes everyone or
> nearly everyone to go bankrupt.
I'd be very surprised if this was true. It sounds like
sort of a half-assed statistic though, with that "overall
profit". All that tells us is that there are far too
many overzelous investors and businessmen in the industry
(e.g. Hughes), not whether the industry is intrinsically
able to turn a profit or not. Many individual airlines
nevertheless are profitable and can stand on their own,
so the statistic as a critique of air travel in general
is invalid.
> Lots of money could be made, though -- by the people supplying the
> aircraft.
Quite true, of course.
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