But technically doctors and lawyers are interchangeable as well. Barring specialization, they all have similar educational background and they differ more by re

But technically doctors and lawyers are interchangeable as well. Barring specialization, they all have similar educational background and they differ more by reputation rather than basic skills. Of course, there's the union/doctor's association thing that keeps the supply short whereas programmers and "programmers" turn up almost everywhere. Similarly programming skills vary a lot. Doctors and lawyers execute more and innovate less and they all have a basic level of knowledge that people are willing to pay for. Hiring a programmer is like hiring an artist: a good one will create lots of wealth while many can just fill in the blanks with something. There's also the question that many doctors and lawyers are running their own clinic or law office, or they're shareholders of their "employer". There are a lot of programmers merely on the payroll. And being on the payroll only doesn't make you rich unless you can negotiate your salary or compensation to match your perceived personal capability. This hints that doctors and lawyers could be more fairly compared to entrepreneurs.