> Sure, I'd be good with that. I also think that if there are some things that are non-profitable but still valuable to society (and no doubt, there are), then the problem is really that the agent isn't capturing enough of the value they are creating for society

more likely (and IMO obviously, when you make this more concrete), educational institutions are overproducing the unprofitable degrees.

for instance, if some degree X is "unprofitable", do we really need to produce new PhDs in it at well above the replacement rate + population growth? that'd be maybe a handful of new PhDs per professor's _lifetime_. then maybe enough undergrads to ensure there's some competition for the PhD pipeline, and that should be about it.