Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Those "decent salaries" have caused a lot of trouble in the US. They are probably not that good for the society, even if they attract foreign talent.

There is not much difference in labor share of GDP between the US and the EU. People who work for living get a similar share of the value they create in both blocks on the average (maybe a bit less in the US), but it's less evenly distributed in the US.

Top 10% earners are now responsible for ~50% of consumer spending. That doesn't mean billionaires and capitalists, but upper middle class professionals and other high earners. The economy is great on the average, but most people don't feel it.





> They are probably not that good for the society

I don't disagree, as in an abstract sense inequality is bad for society.

Try to understand why the US has high tech salaries though. It is because the last 40 years have made it pretty easy and convenient to start companies.

Hence, good employees always have great options or can just start their own companies.


> Try to understand why the US has high tech salaries though. It is because the last 40 years have made it pretty easy and convenient to start companies.

I thought this was because US trade and foreign policy coerced most of the world to open up their markets to high-margin American services via treaties. It's easy to pay high salaries when you're vacuuming money from around the world, and your product (software) has very low marginal cost of replication.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: