Concorde’s economic lessons: a closer look - EP131

The British-French supersonic airplane Concorde soared through the skies at Mach 2 in the years 1976 to 2003. Its history illuminates several important economic and business lessons. Is a supersonic airplane simply uneconomic or will commercial passengers fly supersonic again? Show host Gene Tunny and his fellow economist Arturo Espinoza Bocangel discuss.  

EP129 which mentioned the Concorde:

https://economicsexplored.com/2022/03/07/top-10-insights-from-economics-ep129-show-notes-transcript/

Economist article on the Concorde with good summary of what went wrong:

https://www.economist.com/business/2003/10/16/after-concorde

Conversation article on future of supersonic air travel:

https://theconversation.com/supersonic-flights-are-set-to-return-heres-how-they-can-succeed-where-concorde-failed-162268

AP article on Concorde being “unexpected success” in 1986:

https://apnews.com/article/fa1e281d544267a8afe77afceaf3f03f

Early seventies cost-benefit analysis of the Concorde mentioned in the episode:

http://www.bath.ac.uk/e-journals/jtep/pdf/Volume_V1_No_3_225-239.pdf

Other websites consulted:

https://daily.jstor.org/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-supersonic-concorde/

https://www.businessinsider.com/concorde-supersonic-jet-history-2018-10?r=AU&IR=T

https://theadaptivemarketer.com/2012/01/14/a-pricing-lesson-from-the-concorde/

https://www.heritageconcorde.com/who-built-concorde

https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-concorde/

https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/concorde2.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/phil-collins-live-aid/

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/celebrity-passengers-and-caviar-at-55000-feet-what-it-was-like-to-fly-concorde-in-the-70s

https://www.economist.com/1843/2018/09/03/when-concorde-was-the-future

Thanks to the show’s audio engineer Josh Crotts for his assistance in producing the episode. 

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