Good points, thanks. As I’m sure you’re aware, the indirect rates at some universities are above 90%. That is, for every dollar that directly supports the research, almost another dollar goes to the university for overhead. Much of this overhead is legitimate: facilities and equipment expenses, safety training, etc… but I suspect a decent portion of it goes to administrative bloat, just as much as the education-only part of the university has greatly increased administrative bloat over the last 30-40 years.

Another commentator made a separate point about how professors don’t always get paid a lot, but they make it up in reputation. Ego is a huge motivator for many people, especially academics in my observation. Hubris plays no small part in the hype machine surrounding too many labs.