6 ms·

A roadworker should be paid amazing rates, then, because millions of people will end up using that road.

by rmk2 10y ago

dkopi 10y ago
Valid point, but most roads aren't profitable. They're subsidized by tax payers.
- bbcbasic 10y ago
  Toll roads ftw?
  - dkopi 10y ago
    Even Toll roads aren't necessarily profitable. They're often viewed as "public goods", and might be heavily subsidized together with regulated prices. Most times the toll roads also have to compete with "free roads", limiting the amount of money you can charge per ride. http://reasonrail.blogspot.co.il/2011/06/do-toll-roads-make-profit.html http://reasonrail.blogspot.co.il/2011/06/do-toll-roads-make-...
rajeshp1986 10y ago
Construction workers are traditionally resources, They can be quickly replaced. With software this becomes tricky. You need to spend considerable time, amount and energy to find the correct replacement who can drive it with same efficiency. The 2 reasons why companies like Google, Facebook etc pay so much is because: 1) They want to attract the top talent, top 1%, 5% may be. 2) They want to keep people happy so that the key people working on most important features don't leave the company.
- gaius 10y ago
  The majority of companies consider developers to be "resources" too. Do you have an HR department where you work?
mrep 10y ago
And this is where the supply side of the equation comes into play. Many people can build the road and there shouldn't be any differentiation in how it is built (assuming they have common engineering standards). Thus, the supply is almost perfectly competitive causing low wages. However, there are infinite ways a developer can make something. 1 developer can make design a system that can save/make their company millions that most other developers would miss. The supply side of developers is more like a monopolistically competitive market. Thus, they can extract some of those savings/profits in wages.

A roadworker should be paid amazing rates, then, because millions of people will end up using that road.

by rmk2 10y ago

A roadworker should be paid amazing rates, then, because millions of people will end up using that road.

dkopi 10y ago

Valid point, but most roads aren't profitable. They're subsidized by tax payers.

bbcbasic 10y ago
Toll roads ftw?
- dkopi 10y ago
  Even Toll roads aren't necessarily profitable. They're often viewed as "public goods", and might be heavily subsidized together with regulated prices. Most times the toll roads also have to compete with "free roads", limiting the amount of money you can charge per ride. http://reasonrail.blogspot.co.il/2011/06/do-toll-roads-make-profit.html http://reasonrail.blogspot.co.il/2011/06/do-toll-roads-make-...

rajeshp1986 10y ago

Construction workers are traditionally resources, They can be quickly replaced. With software this becomes tricky. You need to spend considerable time, amount and energy to find the correct replacement who can drive it with same efficiency. The 2 reasons why companies like Google, Facebook etc pay so much is because: 1) They want to attract the top talent, top 1%, 5% may be. 2) They want to keep people happy so that the key people working on most important features don't leave the company.

gaius 10y ago
The majority of companies consider developers to be "resources" too. Do you have an HR department where you work?

mrep 10y ago

And this is where the supply side of the equation comes into play. Many people can build the road and there shouldn't be any differentiation in how it is built (assuming they have common engineering standards). Thus, the supply is almost perfectly competitive causing low wages. However, there are infinite ways a developer can make something. 1 developer can make design a system that can save/make their company millions that most other developers would miss. The supply side of developers is more like a monopolistically competitive market. Thus, they can extract some of those savings/profits in wages.