At bloggingheads, Ezra Klein and Will Wilkinson have an amusing discussion of the evils of post-graduate school in the context of the flaws of neoliberalism.  (Quoth Wilkinson: “Take that, Mickey Kaus!”)  I particularly liked Wilkinson’s description of people reaching tenure as being “beaten down.”  That certainly can be true, but I think it is probably more true of people who specialise in philosophy, which is just about the worst academic field for someone who actually wants to get a job.  The second worst is probably Byzantine history.