Good points - always good to get multiple views. It's worth pointing out that at least in CS, you can keep doing research after getting a PhD by joining industry labs, which shouldn't cost you as many houses.
Re: your footnote, the exact comparison would depend on what field you're looking over from, but no, grants don't flow like water in CS.
In fact, there's been some discussion lately that CS reviewers are overly critical of each others' articles and grant proposals, compared to other fields. For example, in a recent editor's note[1], Moshe Vardi coined the term "Hypercriticality" to describe the harshness of CS reviews. There's a great quote from Ed Lazowska, who called it "Circling the wagons and shooting inwards".
Re: your footnote, the exact comparison would depend on what field you're looking over from, but no, grants don't flow like water in CS.
In fact, there's been some discussion lately that CS reviewers are overly critical of each others' articles and grant proposals, compared to other fields. For example, in a recent editor's note[1], Moshe Vardi coined the term "Hypercriticality" to describe the harshness of CS reviews. There's a great quote from Ed Lazowska, who called it "Circling the wagons and shooting inwards".
[1] http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2010/7/95070-hypercriticality/...