From the perspective of human capital theory, this article presents a critical analysis of the ways in which higher education has traditionally been managed. It shows how academic discourse around the system acts as a decoy which makes education a vehicle for embedding the economic model, modifying higher education to the detriment of university autonomy as the great expression of the former Alma Mater. Consequently, the struggle for markets puts to test management strategies which, without causing offence, are able to achieve their task of control and domination, which is felt among the governed who are really involved in the decisions of the so-called knowledge-based economy. In this context, the attributes of teaching, research and social outreach as substantive functions of the university succumb to market forces and their negative externalities.