Reminds me of this pg classic [1]: > When we say that one kind of work is overpaid and another underpaid, what are we really saying? In a free market, prices a

Reminds me of this pg classic [1]: > When we say that one kind of work is overpaid and another underpaid, what are we really saying? In a free market, prices are determined by what buyers want. People like baseball more than poetry, so baseball players make more than poets. To say that a certain kind of work is underpaid is thus identical with saying that people want the wrong things. > Well, of course people want the wrong things. It seems odd to be surprised by that. And it seems even odder to say that it's unjust that certain kinds of work are underpaid. Then you're saying that it's unjust that people want the wrong things. It's lamentable that people prefer reality TV and corndogs to Shakespeare and steamed vegetables, but unjust? That seems like saying that blue is heavy, or that up is circular. In the same way, it’s “lamentable” that people buy mass-produced products that are slightly inferior and cheaper, but not surprising. [1] http://www.paulgraham.com/gap.html?viewfullsite=1 http://www.paulgraham.com/gap.html?viewfullsite=1