I think this is less true in other countries, so those capable folk might be more evenly spread throughout various engineering fields.
I’m convinced that this is bad for your average American. It’s good for the small slice of the population making high salaries at banks, law firms, advertising companies, etc. But that drives financialization of the economy, which is probably worse for the average worker. It might be better for the median American to cut down those industries and shift the economic mix to industries that create more solid middle class jobs.
Serious question: How, exactly?
This already happens to some degree slightly higher on the stack. For example firmware engineering is not generally a high paying subfield of programming, but at FAANG companies the comp is very high.
Contrast that with something like oil and gas, or sophisticated manufacturing which needs large numbers of moderately skilled workers. In absolute terms these industries generate less wealth. California’s GSP per capita is more than 25% higher than Texas’s. But middle class people are moving from California to Texas (and Georgia and Tennessee)—not the other way around. Or instead of Texas, consider Germany. I’d posit that it’s better for Germans that the country excels in manufacturing rather than finance or tech.
Compared to STEM research or an EE sure, but is this true compared to say, MD or FAANG software engineer?
(assuming the same level of competence. I don't think every L3 AMZN engineer could hack it as a surgeon or something).
The extra utility of LV and Prada products relative to their competitors is zero compared to the extra utility of Apple products, for example due to lower power usage and more longevity.
Also, FAANG is just a catchy acronym for high profit/profit margin earning businesses, that also includes Microsoft and a multitude of other businesses that pay well.
Most of those businesses are high profit/profit margin precisely because they target sectors such as finance and advertising that are of questionable social value.
Most of us here are aware of AWS being one of the primary profit makers of amazon, and GCP isn't far behind. You missed those very obvious business segment that sort of renders your argument moot.
Um, you should look up 'rayiner — he's now a lawyer but (from a former life) has better tech credentials than most.