The MBA credential is but one special case of general 'degree pollution', overinvestment in credentials as relative-rank signalling. See for example this analys

The MBA credential is but one special case of general 'degree pollution', overinvestment in credentials as relative-rank signalling. See for example this analysis: http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2012/09/degree_pollutio.html http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2012/09/degree_pollutio.... As suggested there (including the author's expansions in the comments), when an activity confers private benefits but at a cost in negative externalities, a traditional economic/policy response is to tax the activity in proportion to its net externalities. So perhaps excessive upper-level/professional degrees should be taxed, rather than subsidized. (That is, tax the degrees themselves, not any consequential rise in income, if any.)