Jonathan Schwartz pulls something of a "fast one" in his latest post:

And lastly, there was a discussion of wage rates and cost of living on the desirability of an economy for R&D.

My point - shared by many in the room, but not all - was that Silicon Valley's (and certainly Sun's) business is largely insensitive to the price of labor on the world market. As one of my staff members said recently, "when it comes to hiring, this ain't Costco, we don't buy in bulk." If we can bring a product to market three or six or twelve months earlier than planned, wage rates as a percentage of total return aren't even measurable in calculating returns. (What was Bill Joy's starting salary? My point... who cares.)

It seems to be the case that companies all over Silicon Valley (and beyond) care a lot. If they didn't, a lot of the hiring in India simply wouldn't be happening. I certainly admit to having price sensitivity about hiring in North America; hiring someone in Silicon Valley is going to cost a lot more than hiring an equivalently skilled person nearly anywhere else (Manhattan excepted). If you don't think that enters into decision making, you live on another planet.

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