1) Irrelevant. Care to post all these quant jobs that can be done with undergrad math? I just posted a lot requiring a PhD. 2) >The first job was all discrete

1) Irrelevant. Care to post all these quant jobs that can be done with undergrad math? I just posted a lot requiring a PhD. 2) >The first job was all discrete math, the second was optimizing x86 assembly. I suspect you didn't have the math so ended up pushed to the programming side, right? If so, how can you judge what math a quant uses? 3) >Credential inflation is real. Job requirements are real too. Keynes was not a quant, and his quote is irrelevant compared to simply addressing the point. If you're simply going to start quoting random people instead of addressing he issue then we'll be here forever. 4). > Most undergrads will never see the mathematics. True. Didn't you just write "Most math quants use is at the undergrad level"? If it's undergrad level math, won't most undergrads see it? If most won't see it, perhaps it's taught more often in graduate level courses (which it is). Just curious - since you worked as a quant, can you explain in your own words the importance and mechanism of Black-Scholes? And if that's too easy, how about explaining more recent generalizations?