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Many people are now wondering whether the education industry will also start to experience a downfall as a result of the global financial crisis, (GFC). Initially what began with the US sub-prime mortgage crisis has now transmogrified into something far more devastating. Last week we saw the bankruptcy of the Icelandic nation and the resignation of their government. Almost weekly new reports are being broadcast of company bankruptcies, staff cuts, bank closures, negative trade statistics and billionaires who decide to take their own lives. One estimate here in China placed the possible number of jobless resulting from the present mess to be around 20 million. Unlike the commodity markets in oil and minerals or the manufacturing industry dealing with clothing and automobiles there was always one industry that appeared a safe haven for employees and company directors during a recession – that of education. I remember quite specifically a time when my old private language school boss commented that education, particularly here in China, was like a tree that just keeps on growing. Well that metaphor is now being put to the test and perhaps it won't be for another half a year or so before we begin to see the impact of the GFC on the education industry. Contacts in Australian institutions are telling me application numbers from China are still strong though yesterday I had a phone call from my brother who works in Japan and his impression was far more pessimistic. | 
