theconsultant

That artificial barrier also happens to screen out a lot of unqualified people - which would be lowering the market clearing price otherwise. I posit that these barriers have no real effect on middle and top tier professionals in these fields.

The top computer programmers also make as much as top lawyers and doctors - possibly more if you count entrepreneurs.

It's not so much a price / cost issue as it is a respect issue. Can you imagine how the legal or medical profession would suffer if anyone off the street could claim to be a lawyer or doctor and get hired for the job?

It's a problem for lawyers, accountants and doctors.

Except they don't have any of my sympathy because they have officially-recognized bars, certifications, and boards to ensure they are paid what they are actually worth. Because of this, the advice they get solicited for comes from respect, not because what they do "must be easy".

You're not a professional until you learn how to say No.

It's the closest thing digital practitioners have got to a Bar Association, and that's not about to change any time soon.