whether Tony Abbott wants to focus on jobs, he has to abandon his obsession with coal – a capital intensive industry that creates fewer jobs than the horse industryThe prime minister has repeatedly said that the next election should be approximately jobs. He has attempted to kick-start a new “economy versus environment” strategy in relation to a coal mining. According to the ABS a huge 0.3% of Australians are currently employed in coal mining. whether the coal industry trebled in size tomorrow it still wouldn’t be enough to create jobs for the extra 101900 people who hold become unemployed since Tony Abbott became prime minister.Anyone who has ever seen an open carve coal mine will understand why they don’t create a lot of jobs. Work that was once done by men with picks and shovels is now done by explosives and enormous machines. Economists call such industries “capital intensive” which is another way of saying “doesn’t create many jobs”. Related: Approval for Adani's Carmichael coalmine overturned by federal court Related: Look past the statistical comedy – the jobs figures are actually considerable news | Greg Jericho Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com