[BeetleB]

>I largely agree with this, but in some fields I also think it is an over supply of PhD problem as well.

Looking abstractly at the "market", you are right. Asking a person on a tenure track committee why they're forcing newer hires to do a lot more than they ever had to do to get tenure, and getting that answer, is problematic.

Nothing in the market is forcing the hand of the person on the committee. Nothing. It is the equivalent of "I'm being a nasty jerk because I can." The market helps in him being nasty, but it is his/her choice to be so.