Talk is cheap...

...but airplanes aren't. Which is how the U.S. and EU come to be locked in a trade dispute over subsidies to aircraft makers Boeing and Airbus. Although the two sides had cut off negotiations over the dispute a few weeks ago, Reuters reports that the two parties now appear willing to come back to the table.

The Cranky Economist will just take this opportunity to point out that even though both companies do indeed receive various forms of government support, Airbus is far and away the bigger culprit here. Boeing's "subsidy" comes mainly in the form of government contracts that pay (at least in theory) for services rendered and equipment provided. Airbus, on the other hand, enjoys favorable borrowing rights and other forms of direct aid to its commercial aircraft business, money that buys nothing more than continental pride.