The problem is that software engineers are paided poorly compared to bankers, executives, and a myriad of other occupations relative to how it used to be 30 years ago. Even doctors aren't paid like they used to be. So way too many smart people go into finance and real estate, which are jobs that really anybody could do, except that our corrupt system makes it worthwhile to pay the smartest people to come up with new ways to scam the public and the government. See: Fed policy, CDOs, sub-prime loans, QE...