They're not talking about the general population, they're talking about a niche career where salaries are in large part driven by performance-related bonuses. "On Wall Street" is perhaps too generic, and sure talent will always factor in too, but there are still trading jobs that exist where work output correlates directly with pay. The fact that across jobs nationally the correlation doesn't hold is irrelevant.
Yeah even that is not true. Sure if you have a direct impact on PnL you can expect your bonus to be tied to your performance, otherwise, i.e. 90% of the workforce in an investment bank, you have a fixed grid for bonuses.
Michael Lewis first book was in 1989. Liar's Poker. It's about his career as a bond trader. Pretty hard work. None of his other books make WS sound easy.
Said he'd go to colleges to speak after each book came out. Students saw his books as opportunities, not a warning as intended. Q&A was always "so, where to you think the next boom is?"
Can you tell more about your experience on Wall Street that disproves that? I personally don't have any, but from what I hear from friends and strangers on the internet mostly falls in line with this statement.
Also true from my 16 years experience in tech. May be not hard work as in amount of hours spent, but quality of result certainly correlates with compensation.
I'm speaking generally, but I feel it still applies to Wall Street. Research shows the "hard work" mindset is only a state of mind, and not a correlation of income:
Some specific research looks at "earnings elasticity" between generations:
>> While faith in the American Dream is deep, evidence suggests that the United States lacks policies to ensure the opportunities that the dream envisions. According to the data, there is considerably more mobility in most other developed economies.