>All of which is anecdotal evidence that suggests in its economic relations
>with the U.S., Japan is more like Korea or Taiwan than it is like Germany.
>
>Jim O'Connor
I have heard big tough guys in Silicon Valley refer to the Japanese as their slaves. Well Europe may not be sitting pretty either. In the most recent *Challenge* there is an analysis of Airbus success in winning substantial market share from the US in the jetliner industry (only skimmed it). Yet the comparison is entirely in end use products with no mention of whether Europe can actually challenge the US in the most advanced high tech that goes into jetliner and military aircraft construction. I don't think there was any discussion of Europe's success in the construction of semiconductor based guidance systems or computer assisted design techniques (on which the construction of the Boeing 777 crucially depended--see Mowery and Rosenberg). If there was a purpose to the airshow in the Balkans, it may well have been for the US to demonstrate not only to China (with an exclamation point) but also to Europe that they are so far behind on the technological frontier that they shouldn't even try to catch up and just get used to asymmetrical relations with the US in the areas of high technology and the military. That is, the US tech and military lead has widened even since the Gulf War. It takes a murderous air show every once in a while for the US to win that global war of chicken. Just a thought.
yours, rnb