> I've never seen this argument. It's incredibly common. Even here on HN. I personally empathize with it because I'm a programmer and I'm quite certain much of

> I've never seen this argument. It's incredibly common. Even here on HN. I personally empathize with it because I'm a programmer and I'm quite certain much of the work I do provides less value than a decent teacher would _in the long term_. Societies benefit from paying teachers more as: - they deserve more - higher salaries attract better teachers and actual domain experts who have little economic incentive to teach when they can make more elsewhere. - a better educated workforce will pay for itself in the long run, although I think FUD over deficit spending isn't necessary here and would be fine if it eventually creates increased output/asset creation. I am not claiming that these ideas are proven, just that I personally empathize with them. If you or anyone has research to counter or back up these claims that would be very helpful.