It is pretty strange even from an economist really - they of all people should be able to understand and articulate the difference between signaling value and direct utility value of a given good or service.
Economists have been debating the skills vs signaling value of education, especially since Bryan Caplan released his book The Case Against Education. If you want to get a smattering of opinion on the issue the book's reviews and dicussionsn would be a good starting point.
