Higher Education does not Create Jobs

Thanks to my opponent for this great debate. I will use the wikipedia definition of higher education: Higher, post-secondary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at academies, universities, colleges, seminaries and institutes of technology. Higher education also includes certain collegiate-level institutions, such as vocational schools, trade schools, and career colleges, that award academic degrees or professional certifications.[1] It is my opponents BOP to show that in a world without higher education, assuming ceteris paribus, unemployment rates would be less than or equal to modern times. It is my BOP to show that higher education has created jobs. That is all. It is not my burden to show that current higher education is efficient, that everyone should have higher education, how politicians should change higher education or anything else. I will prove to you that this is true. I theorize that higher education creates jobs mainly through the following principles: (a) Jobs are created by increasing aggregated demand. Education creates jobs that increase aggregate demand. (b) The greater the average productivity of an employees, the greater the amount of employees hired. The more employees hired, the lower the unemployment rate. I will also provide empirical evidence to support my claims. Contentions: 1)Engineers, entrepreneurs and scientist create new businesses and products that increase aggregate demand Lack of aggregated demand causes unemployment. Simply speaking, if consumers do not want to buy products, then businesses will have to lay off workers due to lack of demand for these products. This causes unemployment. New products must be made that people want in order to increase aggregate demand. I cannot want an mp3 player, unless an mp3 player actually exists. Once there is a demand for the mp3 player, people can will be hired for the production, distribution, and selling of this product. Engineers and scientist design new products that consumers want. Many products such as health-care, laptops, cell-phones, mp3-players, video games pharmaceutical drugs, and many others products would not exist without the innovation of scientist and engineers. Scientist and engineers must learn their trade through higher education. Also entrepreneurs create new businesses that create goods and services people want. Entrepreneurs meet people that help their business succeed and learn how to run successful businesses through higher education. Steve Jobs created a company that has thousands of employees. Juggle, the owner of Debate.org, hires many people to keep their company running. 2)The fastest growing occupations require at least an associate's degree If one takes a look at the fastest growing occupations, 2/3 of them require at least an associate's degree, and ï¿½ of them require at least a bachelor's degree. [1] 3)Empirical Evidence shows that those with higher education are less likely to be unemployed According to the following graph, those with a higher education are less likely to be unemployed[2]. 4)Many jobs would not exist without higher education Engineers, doctors, lawyers, nurses, scientists, architectures, teachers, dentists, accountants, and actuaries are all required to have a bachelor's degree or higher in order to practice in these fields. If higher education did not exist, then these jobs, that employ millions of Americans, would not exist. 5)In order to be employed, you must have skills an employer or consumer wants Employers will only hire you, if he/she believes that you will be productive. If you are looking for a job as a financial adviser, but no nothing about finance, you are not going to get the job. Even "blue-collar" jobs like electricians and mechanics often need training at a vocational school in order to be hired. Higher education teaches skills that employers and consumers want, and therefore employment increases. 6) A fall in GDP causes unemployment According to Okun's law, as GDP falls, so does unemployment.[3] Since those entering STEM careers (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) create innovation and technology that improve GDP, then unemployment will decrease as well. REBUTTAL: 1) Education is just a piece of paper that signals that you are a productive worker. This is false. As I stated, education teaches people skills that improves ones productivity in the workplace. It is the skills learned in higher education that causes a person to be hired. 2) Over-saturation of skilled workers This is again false. If this were true, then college graduate would just as likely to be unemployed as those without an education. This is not the case. Also, if there were an over-saturation of skilled workers, then based on the law of supply and demand, then skilled occupations would have low pay. After all, as supply of skilled workers increased, then wages go down. However, there appears to be no "market saturation" of skilled workers.[2] 3) College graduates having difficulty finding a job Those without a college degree and high school drops have it much worse. Since we are in a recession, unemployment is unnaturally low. Since the youth have little or no job experience, they are the least likely to get hired. Fannie Mae's government-backed mortgages and the Fed setting the interest rate to low, created a housing bubble which caused the recession. 4) If everyone had a bachelor degree it would be meaningless It is true that there are jobs that do not require higher education, and these unskilled workers are necessary in society. However, my opponent's argument is both affirming the consequence and using a composition fallacy. His argument reads as so (A = education): If A is good, then A is good for the whole. (composition fallacy) A is not good for the whole. Therefore A is not good. (affirming the consequence) The positive effects of higher education would be exemplified the more people are educated. The positive effect were explained above. Of course there is a limit to this effect. However, I do not have to prove that everyone should have a higher education. Thank you and I look forward to your rebuttal.