I understand that an economist would say that exchanging intellectual property for money is the only way to measure productivity. It satisfies me about as much as measuring productivity by lines of code, and for much the same reason.
Is an architecture astronaut really more productive than a programmer just because there is some sort of perceived value within an "Enterprise Environment?" Is a programmer who switches jobs every few years--garnering a raise each time but needing a ramp-up period at each job--more productive than the one who values security more than money and stays in one place?
I don't think that when we use the phrase "programmer productivity" on HN we are talking about the same thing as an economist who talks about productivity.
That's not actually true, economists are willing to measure things in non monetary terms because economists study people not money. EX: If you turn down job X that pays 20% more than job Y then clearly you are getting something of value out of that choice.
Is an architecture astronaut really more productive than a programmer just because there is some sort of perceived value within an "Enterprise Environment?" Is a programmer who switches jobs every few years--garnering a raise each time but needing a ramp-up period at each job--more productive than the one who values security more than money and stays in one place?
I don't think that when we use the phrase "programmer productivity" on HN we are talking about the same thing as an economist who talks about productivity.