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1 point by Rod 13 minutes ago | link [dead]

\begin{sarcasm} How dare you criticize the status quo? Don't you know that the job market for top executives is perfectly efficient, and that their compensation reflects their contribution to the company they serve? \end{sarcasm}

Four decades ago, during the Nixon administration, the powers that be talked about the lack of technical talent in the United States. Clinton revived the discussion in the 1990s, and Obama talks about it now.

In the big defense contractors (e.g., Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, etc) the most senior engineer makes less than the most junior manager. It does not matter if the senior engineer has a PhD from Caltech and the junior manager was a business major at Cal State.

This reality exists also in the Silicon Valley, but in a more subtle form. If the job market is efficient, then (in theory) the lack of qualified engineers should lead to an increase in pay for top engineering talent, right? Well, the job market is not efficient. Engineering is viewed by many as a blue-collar profession, and the pay gap exists to differentiate the ruling class from the working class.

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