[medvezhenok]

The good paying jobs are focused on where there is a high return on capital (or at least perceived to be a high return).

The sad thing is that people start to think of returns to capital as « societal value » when the two are independent variables

[imtringued]

That is how capitalism works. Profitability (yield on capital, exclusively for investors) trumps whether the activity is economic (Wirtschaftlichkeit in German) (i.e. maximize net capital growth per dollar of spending, for the entire economy). In fact, the latter is highly efficient yet we live in a system where capital has the ultimate say and it demands unreasonable yields that employers pass on in the form of terrible pay and working conditions and higher prices to consumers.