I enjoyed this post. Having done my PhD and afterwards worked both in an academic and non-academic settings, I can empathize with those who find the time, effort and money spent on the degree to be a sunk cost rather than an investment. I tend to agree with a quote in the article that some PhDs operate as though they are Ponzi scheme projects in a closed system of those who transact only among each other.

One of the critical reasons, I feel, is how the PhD degree fosters unnecessary arrogance, when what is more needed is actually the sense of curiosity, humility and enthusiasm for the kinds of novelty that so much an academic degree can capture. Hence, due to this arrogance, some PhD graduates look down upon non-academic jobs and put themselves in a financially unstable position as stated in the article.