The professional managerial class is an affliction throughout many walks of life. What's most notable with academia is that the PMC was able to capture such an

The professional managerial class is an affliction throughout many walks of life. What's most notable with academia is that the PMC was able to capture such an unorthodox organization. The playbook for capturing a public corporation is well worn, but a university? That requires some imagination. The existence of the PMC I believe is evidence of elite overproduction and is a nasty side effect of an increasingly winner-take-all society. When the number of pie slices gets smaller, each slice gets bigger, and the jockeying for each slice becomes ever more bitter. I can't help but think academia is in its sorry state because so many people are seeking a refuge from a hostile corporate and industrial economy. Unrelated point: universities are now the gatekeepers for economic success. There's a whole lot of money on the line. To riff on Uncle Ben, "with great power comes great corruption."