Among the silly arguments you hear from higher-ed bigwigs is that getting a college degree is protection against unemployment. Today’s Inside Higher Ed has such a piece. The writer even calls it “insurance.” Nonsense. A great many college graduates are unemployed, while a great many people without degrees have held their employment throughout this long, long recession. Among those who were laid off, that happened because the need for the work they did had declined, no matter what their level of education.

If everyone got a college degree, would that mean no more unemployment?