Alex Tabarrok says that Robin Hanson has his Scrooge hat on when he asks, Do Helping Professions Help More?:
A student told me the other day he wanted to be a doctor, so he could help people. I thought, “What, as opposed to the rest of us who hurt people?” Contrary to the smug self-righteousness assumptions of those in “helping” professions, like child care, teaching, counseling, or emergency services, it is far from obvious that these professions are any more helpful than the rest.