This is a silly reductionist article. For me, pursuing an engineering PhD has facilitated an early career pivot away from trading (which after 2008, is so f'in

This is a silly reductionist article. For me, pursuing an engineering PhD has facilitated an early career pivot away from trading (which after 2008, is so f'in boring and has zero growth). As someone with an entrepreneurial bent used to working 90 hour weeks, I have certain skills that jive well with many talented researchers who, contrary to the ivory tower window dressing, like money very much. Personally, I h8 MBAs and would much rather be surrounded by entrepreneurial PhDs. Like anything, you get out what you put in. After two short years, business ventures are starting to pan out and I'm far more optimistic about my career now than I ever was in finance (including those salad days of HFT during the collapse). If you're straight outta school and want a PhD because you plan on becoming an academic, well, good luck with that (the pension system is argument enough against this for me). If you want more education to better take advantage of the wealth of technology in the pipeline, welcome to the party.