Teaching Comparative

Economic policies 2

The global economic and financial crisis offers an opportunity to look at policy making in various political systems. We can ask questions about how the policy making process works; about what ideas are most influential; about which people and groups vie for influence in making policies; and about who seem to be the winners and the losers in the process.

Then we can put our comparative hats on and make some

• generalizations about economic policy making
• comparisons of the policy making process and the policies and
• evaluations of the effectiveness of the policies

The second and third examples come from Chnina.

It's not just rural unrest that worries the ruling elite in China.

Millions of Chinese graduates out of work after fivefold rise in university places

"More than 6 million Chinese students left university this year and up to a quarter are still struggling to find work. As the global slowdown bites, students such as Su know it can only get worse...

"But the problems predate the crisis and mark both a success and failure on China's part. 'The number of graduates increased too quickly - by 2006 there were already five times more than in 1999. The labour market can't take that big an increase in such a short time,' said Professor Yang Dongping of the Beijing Institute of Technology, the author of a report on graduate employment.

"The expansion of higher education reflects China's aspirations: the world's factory needs more skilled workers to move up the chain, away from cheap mass production. Yet there are not yet enough higher-end jobs. Four million graduates in recent years have yet to find their first job, according to officials. However, the true figure is probably higher as the current system relies on reporting by universities, who have a vested interest in showing that graduates can find work...

"Higher expectations are clashing with the deteriorating economic reality.

"Until 1981, the government assigned jobs, with those who dreamed of becoming engineers sometimes ending up as cooks or clerks. But while their parents took the work they were given, these students grew up in an age of personal choice. They expect fulfilling jobs and good remuneration; few want to leave the big cities or take up underpaid teaching work...

"The government is reining back expansion and promising more help with job-hunting. But many of this year's graduates are hoping for more direct support. On Sunday, a record 775,000 applicants sat civil service exams - 130,000 more than last year - for only 13,500 jobs..."

---

See also: the BBC video report on this topic

---

To emphasize the Chinese leadership's concerns about political disruption caused by economic factors, Xinhua published this warning, Vice President Xi: World financial crisis "to test Chinese leadership"

"Vice President Xi Jinping on Thursday said keeping China's economy growing amid the global financial crisis would test the competence of government leaders...

"Government leaders should integrate their study and practice with ways to tackle the financial crisis and implement central policies on domestic demand expansion and boost economic growth, he said..."

---

Labels: China, economics, policy, politics

posted by Ken Wedding @ 6:06 AM