Nope, that's only part of the equation. The other part is that we have the bargaining power to demand a cut, largely because of the current supply/demand balanc

Nope, that's only part of the equation. The other part is that we have the bargaining power to demand a cut, largely because of the current supply/demand balance in the tech labor market. Besides, the economic notion of value is an incredibly slippery concept. Not only does it include bargaining power (so your value can decrease even if your economic productivity increases), it weights in the wealth of your customer too -- better to entertain a banker than to feed a poor. "Value" for the purpose of economics is typically quite far from "value" for the purposes of morality. 3rd reason not to be a dick about this: the wheel turns constantly, and we will not be on top of it forever. See: any mature engineering discipline, or even past performance of SW engineering.