Answering a question about agents

rowyn said:

I agree with you that editors and agents have interests that align pretty well. I'm curious about the utility of agents, though. Do you think they're providing a valuable service for publishers or writers, in the case of first-time authors? I can see the benefit of agents to established authors; I'm hazier on how they help unpublished ones, or what they do that the publishing house couldn't do cheaper with their own readers or interns.

I broke this out of comments because it's a two part question, and at least one part is something I'm often asked. For anyone who knows the answer, or who doesn't feel like reading mine, I've answered the question behind the cut. To your complete lack of surprise, it's not really a short answer.
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