That being said, I also agree with @south_korea_ln that there are too many useless papers, and too many papers that exist just to be a line on someone's CV.

Meh, it's usually better for my mental health if I don't think too much about the meta situation within academia, both on the research and teaching side.

I would also be for a radical contraction in PhD's

Undisciplined

I'm actually not for the idea.  I fully acknowledge that the average inventor generates much more surplus for society than the average PhD, so it's not coming from a place of superiority either.  I just want the P in PhD to mean something.  I am not happy with the proliferation of doctorates of various kinds where the rewardee does not actually know how to think deeply about philosophical issues.