>> Wages, like anything else in a capitalistic system, tend to be governed by supply and demand. No matter how much money you make for your employer, if you are easily replaced then your labour is not worth much. It doesn't matter how much you make for your employer, if there is a fixed demand and a larger supply, then wages are going to suck. Ask Bill Oxley about wages for IT workers in Alaska for a concrete demonstration of this. <<
So? What is the side-effect-free solution? Recessions wouldn't be as bad if people, companies, and the gov learned to save for rough times.
Unions? Well, they are great for the people in them, but they suck for users of the unionized service. There is the joke that "Work Union" is an oxymoron.
It would be great if I.T. could be unionized, at least for the people in it. (On second thot, it is sometimes said that unionization makes work boring because risk and change is reduced. OO would be locked-in forever :-O