I have the utmost respect for PhD's such as yourself, without a doubt tackling a very difficult problem for many years is a quality that proves to be extremely useful. But as you said, we don't need everybody to be PhD's, but with degree inflation, it can't be ruled out that things will converge that way some time in the future.
Part of the problem with native workers rejecting jobs they don't want, is the mindset that certain jobs have more or less importance. It has a lot to do with prestige and "face", something highly industrialised nations face now more than ever. The sense of entitlement for the best paying jobs as a fresh graduate is unhealthy because it undermines the aptitude of those who are performing just as well on the job as those who have no experience.
I'm not sure what will come about in the French elections, but I would guess that much like other times of uncertainty, particularly with the backdrop of the Euro showing signs of failure, there will be a rush to safe haven assets, perhaps gold, the yen, even bitcoin.
I definitely agree with this analysis.