>Your value to the employer might be no different, but your employer's value to you is much higher. I'm curious why you would make that assumption. If you're

>Your value to the employer might be no different, but your employer's value to you is much higher. I'm curious why you would make that assumption. If you're a talented developer, then you have employers around the world who want to hire you, not just in your backyard. I've seen some truly gifted Eastern European developers charging $20/hr while their contract employers basically giggle at them behind their back, since they'd easily pay $100/hr for their talents. Some of them probably could have negotiated $150/hr. People like that not only screw over their fellow programmers in more developed countries with high costs of living, since we can't get away with charging $20/hr and raising a family with a nice lifestyle like they can. They also -- and more acutely -- screw themselves. Don't be that developer.