> There are also social benefits to some degrees. The engineers who developed the iPhone probably captured only a small fraction of the social value they create

> There are also social benefits to some degrees. The engineers who developed the iPhone probably captured only a small fraction of the social value they created. But it’s likely that degrees which generate large social benefits also come with large private rewards. The idea that most negative-ROI programs are generating enough “social benefits” to justify themselves is doubtful. The author seems to think it's self-evident that the iPhone is especially socially valuable and that humanities and social sciences (other than economics) are not. To me, it seems self-evident that the reverse is true.