The real answer to the question, of course, is that people are at least somewhat rational, and so they're unlikely to race for high-risk, low-reward work when t

The real answer to the question, of course, is that people are at least somewhat rational, and so they're unlikely to race for high-risk, low-reward work when the opposite is plentiful. Young people will take high-risk opportunities only when they offer higher reward than otherwise-available low-risk ones. The key questions, then, are: 1) These "unloved" fields: do they actually create more value than the lower-risk fields the author laments young people choosing? If not, then the author's answer is simple: people are making the right choices. If so, however: 2) What forces are preventing workers in these high-value, high-risk fields from capturing as large a share of their productivity as workers in low-risk, high-reward fields can?