Followup on BAE - EASD Merger...

...which appears won't be happening.

Per the Financial Times:

Government officials in London, Paris and Berlin blamed each other for not backing the €36bn tie-up between BAE Systems, the UK’s defence champion, and EADS, Europe’s biggest civil aerospace group, while investors accused BAE of having a muddled strategy that threatened shareholder value. 

An opinion piece in the Economist blames it on Germany (EADS ownership is complex; a large portion is controlled by Daimler).  And, the BBC has a very nice summary of the whole deal.

Divided by a Common Language

"England and America are two countries divided by a common language."

Nobody is really quite sure who said this.  Some say it was Winston Churchill, others attribute it to Oscar Wilde.  Most sources I've found give George Bernard Shaw credit, though there's no written documentation of Shaw's having said this.  But, he could have.

While looking this morning for background material on Egypt (which will be part 3 of the CIVETS series), I found an article on the BBC entitled "Britishisms and the Britishisation of American English."  That ended up as a lost hour......

One of the points of particular interest in this article is that, when Americans (USAians ?) use specific Britishisms ((such as "colour" for "color" or "centre" for "center"), that they don't come across as sophisticated, just pretentious.

Picture from Memphis Flyer


The BBC article linked to this page (Not One-Off Britishisms).  I thought I'd read the first few entries, but got totally sucked in.  The author here also skewers the pretentiousness of some US uses of British idioms, but makes an additional point, which is that language in the US is enriched by the addition of British words and phrases for which there is no specific American equivalent.  One I am particularly fond of is the verb "to vet," meaning "to look into," with the implications of determining a person's suitability for a position and of digging for the dirt before the opposition can do so.

Example #1
Example #2

Then, there's my new favourite British news source, The Guardian.  One of their columnists decided to tackle the subject of British English vs. US English. The article is interesting, but the comments are even better.  Some people take their language very seriously.  Other commenters drifted down the byways of Spanish Spanish vs. Cuban Spanish.....

Then, just to make things Even More Complicated, remember that it's not just US English and British English.

• "Hinglish: Not same, very different" (English with a Hindi flavour)
• "G' Day mate: A guide to Australian language" (from a British source)
• "South African English" (Bring on the  vuvuzelas.  And, for evidence that there are people with entirely too much time on their hands.... )

This is enough.

Back to Black?

In both 320 sections, we've recently been talking about bribery, with some reference to the 2003-2006 scandal involving BAE Systems (British Aerospace Engineering) and Saudi Arabia, with a supporting cast of a large flock of fighter jets, a pink airplane, a peacock-blue Rolls-Royce, and numerous sports cars.

Although there was some speculation that BAE chairman Sir Dick Evans and his high degree of cross-cultural awareness played a part in securing the Saudi contract.

Well, BAE is in the news again.  There's a proposed merger between BAE and EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company).  Per the Financial Times:

Both companies are aiming to reach an agreement by October 10, according to two people familiar with the deal talks. BAE and EADS executives wanted to decide “whether this thing will fly or not” by that date, although the deadline could be pushed back if necessary, one of these people said.

Some Background

Both companies are defence contractors (that is, weapons manufacturers), although only about a third of EADS revenues are military (EADS includes Airbus, which is civilian aircraft).

The Economist quick update on the arms business

EADS is a Dutch company, with a complex ownership structure that includes the German, French and Spanish governments and Daimler and worldwide operations (including China and Brazil). 

BAE is British owned and  deals primarily with the UK and other English-speaking countries (US and Australia), with significant interests in India and Saudi Arabia.

The Merger

According, again, to the Financial Times, the motivation behind this is mutual benefit.  BAE has a significant presence in the US defence market (which is almost half of the world's defence spending), allowing the EADS / BAE combination to take on Boeing.  And, if military markets dry up (though plans would be to expand into additional lines of military hardware), EADS has Airbus, which is civilian aircraft.

However, nobody else -- shareholders, governments, employees, labor unions, and the lady that pushes the food trolley on the Hogwarts Express -- likes the idea.

More later....

The US Reaction

Here's the New York Times coverage; from the comments, it appears that US observers are worried about the potential power and size of the mergerd firm.