Replies

"1] How difficult is your skill to learn?"

My skills are probably somewhat harder to obtain than
average; that doesn't mean that I indulge in the idea
that I am owed a certain degree of compensation because
of the degree of difficulty involved in obatining these
skills. The degree of difficulty and expense involved
does, however, tend to restrict the amount of competition
in a given field.

"2] How easily can you be replaced?"

More easily than a neurosurgeon less easily than a
garbageman.

"3] Is there a demand for it?"

Less than for a neurosurgeon more than for a garbageman.

"Do you think that the librarians (with all that education) ever stopped to realize that they weren't going to be highly paid?"

I am not sure; the ones that I have met do seem to resent their level of compensation. They apparently did not give the matter enough thought in college.

There is only a very broad relationship between education level and income. Among various professions the relationship between education level and income is more complicated.

Doctors often make the argument that thay are entitled to a higher level of income by virtue of the amount of training involved with becoming a Doctor. The reality is that Doctors have been very effective as group in controlling the medical market through the AMA. The AMA indirectly controls how many medical students are admitted to medical school and is very effective in detering non-Doctors from performing even routine medical procedures. This restriction of medical practice tends to inflate Doctor salaries.

Architects are, according to the Government, are the most educated professional group and yet on average architect salaries are much lower than Doctor salaries. The Architect's professional organization has not been as effective in restricting access to "para-architect" services as the AMA has been for Doctors. In general the demand for a typical architect's services is less than that seen for a typical Doctor and architects have been less successful in restricting access to their services than Doctors have been.

The fact that market forces can greatly influence income levels among different professions is anathema to the left. "Comparable Worth" and other such schemes are attempts to replace market for labor with social engineers. It won't work because such schemes will create shortages in high demand fields but that won't stop the left from trying it anyway since they are impervious to reason.