[rbanffy]

> The act of extracting that labor more efficiently levels the gradients, though, which self-limits the problem.

Not necessarily, or indentured servitude would have been impossible.

> Nowadays, the good software engineers in China (the ones who work for Google etc.) get paid just as much as their American counterparts

This seems to be more of a result of the low friction of hiring a good remote developer. It's also not completely true - a top developer in Berlin or Dublin (which is where I live) makes less than the same developer would in the valley (I know that because I was offered to move) and a lot more than a developer makes in Brazil (where I'm from). I am not aware of any remote developer who gets paid what they'd be if they were living in London or San Francisco.