> I am still fascinated that Airbus is relatively well run and successful company, even though it's EU based, cross-border, with all the overregulation, bureaucracy and obstacles that come with that.

If it doesn't add up, maybe it's the other side of the equation that's the problem: Maybe the flaw or surprise in the equation is not Airbus but the other side - the beliefs about "EU based, cross-border, with all the overregulation, bureaucracy and obstacles" - maybe those aren't what you thought and don't have the impact you thought.

If the evidence doesn't match the theory, it's time to re-examine the theory.

I say that because those beliefs about the EU are a dogma of American big business and its fellow travelers, which prefers the US where they have so much power (and so little regulation or tax) rather than the more democratic power in EU.