单选题
The love affair with business started in the 1980s and has grown into a mighty passion backed not just by money but by glamour and class. In 2009 the money ran out, but the mood was one of such chaos and confusion that it was hard to tell what was going on underneath. In 2010 it will become clear that the class and glamour are draining away from business too. It will be the end of the affair: business will be cool no longer. Throughout this affair the business schools played the role of cupid. First, they made the study of business into an (almost) respectable academic discipline. More importantly, they made it socially acceptable, something even the classiest person could aspire to. But in 2010, for the second year running, tens of thousands of overqualified MBAs will emerge with nowhere exciting to go. A very few will land jobs in investment banking, but those who want grand jobs in big companies or consultancies will be disappointed. Increasingly they will go crawling back to their old employers to do pretty much whatever they were doing before for pretty much the same money, thus making them question whether it is really worth the $160,000 that a top MBA costs. This is not going to be a little recessionary dip. It will be a more fundamental reappraisal. The magical myth of the MBA has for some time left the facts behind. In furore, those who stump up will do so because they want to learn the skills, not because they think they are buying entry into a cool and exclusive club. Some good things will follow from this. There will be fewer smart Alecs who think they know it all pouring into companies. There has been a bear market in management bullshit since the credit crunch began. In 2010 the decline of the MBA will cut off the supply of bullshit at source. Pretentious ideas about business will be in retreat. But there will be bad things too: if fewer bright, ambitious people go into business, economies may suffer. Instead the talent will go increasingly into the public sector, the law, medicine--which are already bursting with bright people as it is. While the decline of the B-schools will weaken the glamour of business in general, the government will do its bit too with increasing regulation. In 2010,being a board director of a listed company will never have been less fun: not only will the procedural side be more demanding, there will be even greater public hysteria over what directors are paid. And with those at the top having such a grim time, it is unrealistic to expect any excitement at the bottom.