Commentary on the student uprising in Quebec and why state bureaucracy grows (and grows).

What is going on in Quebec?

The easy answer is that these coddled, selfish students don’t ‘get it’.  Quebec’s students need to get with the programme. The economic benefit of a post-secondary education has been quantified and so they should start paying for it in advance like other Canadians and other students in the developed world.

Of course, that means only taking university courses that have ‘value’ helping to explain why liberal arts programmes are disappearing, and why 50% of Canadian students graduate $27,000 in debt (the other half have no debt and all their tuition presumably was written off).  Oh, and that structurally high youth unemployment rate means that on graduation you won’t be able to find a job to pay off your loan.

Perhaps what is ‘really’ going on is that these students’ witnesses to the skyrocketing real cost of education (rising tuition and falling quality) in an economy where income inequality is growing at the quickest rate of any OECD country are making a Guadalcanal-like stand against the end of the promise of equality of opportunity.

Seems to me that they get it.

Students of the world unite!

Thanks to Robin of Victoria.

New York Times -- Our Not-So-Friendly Northern Neighbor
WHEN Vladimir V. Putin first came to power in Russia, Quebecers could not help but laugh.

 

Pdf below – Trends in Enrollment

 

Ottawa Citizen -- Coyne: A protest devolves into a movement about nothing — except drama
You have to admit it's all very exciting.

 

ipolitics -- The Quebec protests: the big picture
In the wake of Tuesday’s massive demonstration in Montreal, it’s worth standing back from the student protests – which now rank as one of the biggest and longest in Canadian history – to ask the question: what’s going on?

 

Globe and Mail -- 518 arrested as Montreal police kettle demonstrators
A peaceful evening march that began with people festively banging pots and pans in support of protesting students ended in the early morning hours with police using the controversial “kettling” tactic on a crowd of demonstrators and arresting 518 people.

Why cutting is hard to do. Thanks to Ross of Islington.

Investor Politics -- Election 2012: Forget Bailouts, We Need a Shakeout
Changing the mindset of a bureaucracy.