DISQUS

I agree. The VP's at the company where I work all make much more than a carpenter in the middle of Pennsylvania. But when you factor in the hours they work, job stress, the cost of housing in Boston, debt on business school loans, etc., I strong case could be made that the carpenter in Pennsylvania is better off.

The trick is to have a high relative income for your region. Having a high income in a place where everyone earns a lot simply causes housing prices to shoot through the roof, making you no better off.

"Perhaps it's time for for certification of coders? We're the only well-paid profession I can think of that doesn't have them."

The software sector has consistently produced higher quality and cheaper products over the past few decades. It is the healthiest of all the sectors of the economy. That it is largely free of all regulations and certifications is one of the key reasons for this. It's also the only profession where you're not required to go into massive amounts of debt from grad school in order to practice in it. Please, let's not ruin this.