Are too many of the highly skilled being routed into careers that are focused on rent seeking?
Over the past few decades, elite students have often chosen finance over science or engineering careers. This trend has been driven by the possibility of attaining significantly high earnings by working for Wall Street firms (or for firms in London or Hong Kong). However, there are rising concerns about the true economic value of many activities associated with modern finance.
Yale economist Robert Shiller convincingly argues that many finance professionals are not adding genuine long-term value to the economy: