Unfortunately, much of the debate thus far has tended to be more obscure than it needs to be. Take, for example, the question of whether a subsidy exists. Most observers agree that there is a gross subsidy, and that the real issue is whether there is a subsidy net of regulatory costs. But here the discussion often seems to get confused.
To me, it is critical at this point to distinguish clearly between the concepts of total benefits, total costs, and marginal benefits and marginal costs. We all know, at least those of us with some training in economics should know, that profit maximizing firms will equate marginal benefits with marginal costs.