Because customers aren't usually capable of assessing the technical capabilities. All they see is self-confidence, personal charm (English and accent is very im

Because customers aren't usually capable of assessing the technical capabilities. All they see is self-confidence, personal charm (English and accent is very important in this category) and past experience. So what happens is that a guy with these qualities, along with enough technical knowledge to asses the skills, resells the work of cheap foreign developers for enormous profit, probably as a consulting company. People with powerful personalities can get out of that, but those introverted or with some form of Asperger's won't. I know of several instances like that personally. They just accept that they're worth $20k/year as a fact, even though if they were more assertive and extraverted that could eventually turn into $200k. If they try to start out on their own, they start with low confidence, which means low prices. Which leads to people thinking they aren't capable of anything complicated, so they get only shitty jobs. Which reinforces their low confidence in their skills and they don't try much. Steve Jobs of the world will always earn more than Wozniaks.