> Why are programmers so well paid? My pet theory that I don’t know how to rigorously test in data is that programmers are very well paid so they don’t go to t

> Why are programmers so well paid? My pet theory that I don’t know how to rigorously test in data is that programmers are very well paid so they don’t go to the competitor or start their own competitor. Programming software requires very few fixed costs outside of the programmers themselves; electrical engineers aren’t going to be able to make fabs (or get contracts with fabs), file patents and compete with intel the way software engineers can rent out a garage and make a social network with some novel twist and capture enough attention to get significant advertising revenue.