ARNOLD KLING: “Many professors speak as if the opportunity cost of working in academia is a high-paying job in the private sector. However, talent is not quite so interchangeable. It is not just that there are very few CEO’s who could do high-caliber scholarly work in chemistry or linguistics. There are equally few academics who could function as CEO’s.”

That’s true, though I took about a 60% pay cut when I left law practice to become a law professor. And although I do fairly well now (I actually make more money than when I quit practicing law back in the first Bush presidency!) I noted last year that one of my former colleagues at the old firm, who stayed on and made partner, was making over a million dollars a year. His bonus was bigger than my salary. On the other hand, since then he’s quit and gone to graduate school. What does that tell you?

I think that Arnold’s overall point is valid, though. Law professors, like those in other professional schools, have closer ties to their professions, and hence to the real world, than academics in general. And if taking academic jobs were a huge, public-spirited personal sacrifice there probably wouldn’t be so many applicants for every academic job.