Hacker News Reader

Oh man, I agree with you. The typical answer is: market.

But on a side note, this should make us blatantly clear that, all else being equal, our work has no inherent value.

To take the point further: nothing, ultimately, has any inherent value.

Yeah, just like you pay same price for house, food, daycare, school, medical treatment and so on. If it is same square foot why does it matter if house is in Cleveland, Ohio or San Francisco, CA.

I use it to my advantage - if I'm remote working for the Bay Area I can double my local salary but still be significantly lower than a Bay Area local.