ABSTRACT
To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers may at first sight appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers. It is, however, a project altogether unfit for a nation of shopkeepers; but extremely fit for a nation whose government is influenced by shopkeepers. What matters to the potential customer is the possession of a qualification - a ticket to a better material standard of living. Students as customers may be less willing to tolerate a shoddy "product": less willing to suffer poor teaching, sub-standard facilities, under-stocked libraries and appalling accommodation. The effect of students acting as customers may have even more far-reaching consequences, whether or not universities have the resources to meet their demands. The student is beholden to the educational expert in a way that is far more fundamental than that of the customer to the salesman.
