Let My Human Capital Go

Isn't it about time for the buzz phrase "human capital" to be replaced by some other term? It's certainly starting to wear a little thin--and when you really think about it, is as absurd as it's ever been. Witness the title of a Government Accountability Office report issued today: "Special Operations Forces: Several Human Capital Challenges Must Be Addressed to Meet Expanded Role." These forces, as the report notes, are "specially organized, trained, and equipped to conduct operations in hostile, denied, or politically sensitive environments." In other words, they are a pretty special and critically important group of real, actual, living, breathing people--not "human capital."