Programming per se is not a hype but the way it's emphasized seems to be a hype to me.
Is it useful? Yes, very! is it more important than a teacher or a nanny or a nurse just because you can earn more money or because we like to outsource labor to countries with cheaper workers and need to keep the specialization so we still can hold our grip at least in the hi-tech area?
I think it's a political thing the big companies want you to program because they don't get "enough" qualified workers (although statistically enough people graduate in CS but don't wanna program) since it's a billion dollar business the state wants to have the taxes so it tries to promote it.
To me, it's like the regular "outbreak" of a freakish sickness in Africa / South America / Germany / Asia. It's basically setting the public opinion to "it's important" so it gets more funding.