[big_question]

Similarly:

"We are spending 50$ per month just for one test in our code. We could cut it down to 10$ if we wanted."

"How many hours would it take to reduce the spend? If it's more than a couple of hours for a senior engineer, then it's not worth it."

We kept spending money on this inefficient test and it was the right choice.

[Vt71fcAqt7]

Reciprocally, when low wages are available in manufacturing, comapnies are less likely to use automated proccesses because labor is so cheap it can cost less to eg. have two buckets/wheelbarrows between two parts of a factory line with one person to swap them rather than use a conveyor belt. Getting 100% automation would allow factories to come back to the US but getting that last 20% at a competitive cost is difficult. See America’s largest tool company couldn’t make a wrench in America (wsj.com).[0]

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36828861