You seem to equate the failure of Sonic Cruiser and Concorde, yet all that was lost in Sonic Cruiser was the cost of a lot of paper, and the salaries of product development people who were were going to be paid anyways. And that money came from Boeing, not the taxpayers. In the case of Concorde, major amounts of money were lost, and the taxpayers footed the bill.
And in turn, Boeing spent more US government money on the B2707SST than the UK and France
everspent on Concorde.
Aviation is a high-profile, high-value industry that directly employs many people and is indirectly crucial to the entire functioning of the world marketplace.
Whether it's airframes, engines or the airline industry itself, there's bound to be a degree of politicisation....everywhere.
Look at:
1.) Boeing military contracts.
2.) US airline federal loan guarantees.
3.) Historical EU support for failing flag carriers.
4.) Distribution of Airbus manufacturing = distribution of white collar 'knowledge working' across EU countries
5.) The fact that Emirates is owned by Dubai, Inc.
6.) The fact that Singapore is owned by Singapore, Inc.
....the list goes on (and we haven't even covered bilaterals!)
Aviation and Politics are inextricably linked. Pretending otherwise is head-in-sand mentality!