Labor's view of Australia - a nation of shopkeepers?

Graduates

In support of Rudd's G20 solo chorus of "security, liberty, and prosperity etc", Julia Gillard resurrected the "clever country", promoting the drive for more university graduates to defelct criticism about disappearing jobs.

It would appear that graduates and postgraduates are the answer to Australia's diminishing skills base, although Rudd did refer to "techies".

Commitment to such a grand design can have the potential for disaster and requires scrutiny.

University was for China's elite, beyond the financial reach of the average Chinese. In 1998 China launched its "Kuo zhao" graduate program, promising highly paid work for graduates. Enrolments jumped from 1 million in 1998 to 4 million in 2004. Responding to oversupply and rising unrest among large numbers of unemployed graduates, Beijing froze enrolments in 2005.

China's economy then boomed and Beijing wanted more Chinese graduates. In 2008, the number of graduates rose to 5.6 million and by March 2009 graduates numbered 6.1 million.

Beijing ignored the fact that China's labour demand was for millions of cheap skilled and unskilled labour, not graduates lacking work experience.

Less than 15 per cent of China's graduates find qualification related work and the numbers of unemployed graduates, continues to grow year on year adding to despondency and rising civil unrest in China. Masters and PhDs are applying for employment from street cleaners, drivers, retail sales assistants, hospitality staff, bank tellers and so on. The return of increasing numbers of professionals laid off overseas is exacerbating the situation for new and unemployed graduates.

The poorer sectors reflect the human side of disaster where families secured loans to meet the high cost of university fees. Graduates future income is crucial for the financial welfare of the family and loan repayments. The rapidly rising rate of graduate suicides in China reflects the human pain of financial burdens on families and the personal shame of those unemployed.

Australian shopkeepers will be relieved to know that they will be able to employ a wide range of skilled professions in the future.

Real innovation not herd mentality

The Labor Musical Trio and some noted economists proclaim that the solution to the problem is creating consumer confidence in the economy.