[Remember_Salamis]

We wouldn't be fording nybody into any field. All we would be doing if making an investment in human capital, an investment that would give us the highest return on investment. That's what Friedman's saying.

[drtom]

And you are right. BUT...the military is a targeted customer with a clearly defined need. Therefore the target for actual funding is easy to determine.

Society is much more complex. What measure will you apply to determine what fields are worth funding?

Before I went into engineering I was an astrophysicist. People used to argue that my type of research (supernovae) had no return on investment ever. And I had to (grudgingly) agree. Is a psychologist that researches ADD statistics in schools less valuable than a pharmaceutical engineer that produces Ritalin?

I think in the end it will be the market itself that forces the correction. Once you have an overabundance of B.A.s and there are no jobs except for McDonalds, the trend will go the other way. My area is currently the center of a housing boom and suddenly trades have been rediscovered by the local population. The same is true on a national and global scale.