re: #440 garhighway

But if that is the reason we’d be paying coal miners seven figures, too.

No, it’s that there is a real difference in outcomes (if you are Goldman or some such entity) if you can get smarter people. So they pay more. Make no mistake about it: Goldman hires brains. (They look for, and get, other qualities as well. And they can afford to be picky.)

I shouldn’t have been so glib about “not all that difficult”. Obviously there is the need to attract smart people.

On the other hand, those same very smart people frequently accept much lower rates of pay to take up jobs with more intangible rewards, such as teaching. This suggests that they are definitely giving something up when going into the IB world (or other similar pursuits), which does have real value.