I agree with this but it's tough to prove that there's a causation effect between the two (other than the one person who was fired, which by itself probably is enough to make a valid argument). But it seems like when the value add of a programmer is so high, it's a lack of mimicking the finance market to structure your compensation package that seems to be more closely correlated to the (low) average income. I say finance market because it's probably one of the few markets where compensation is directly and proportionally related to performance.