Problem
Your company has been asked to provide advice to the Australian Government on a number of proposals it has received from the (fictional) Australian Civil Engineers Union (ACEU)*. The ACEU is concerned that the number of civil engineers is declining in Australia. This is partly due to the fact that other types of engineers (such as mechanical and electrical) are earning higher wages despite undergoing similar training at university. To address the decline, the union is lobbying the government to adopt a number of policies, specifically:
• provide a tax rebate to individuals working in a civil engineering job;
• invest in the quality of civil engineering training so that Australian civil engineers are the best in the world; and
• lower the cost of the civil engineering major at universities.
Task
What are the economic consequences of increasing the investment in civil engineers to raise quality? How will this impact the lack of civil engineers? Will the new civil engineers be more productive and in turn demand a higher salary? And will the increase in productivity help the shortage of civil engineers or worsen it? (350-400-Words)