sir drinks-a-lot
Philosopher
The market does not have an even hand. We would all likely be dead without farmers, water treatment guys and the like who keep the hedge fund managers alive. Betty the bank VP or Benny the lawyer would likely not survive a week without them. The market's influence is based on coercion, not choice or value of services.
I agree the the market is probably not totally efficient at pricing labor, but my question remains: how else would you do so?
Your example doesn't show the worth of a single farmer or water treatment guy, but rather the aggregate of all farmers and all water treatment guys.
When someone is looking for a job and they ask themselves what they are worth, they're usually using shorthand for asking what they're worth in the market. What else would it be? Worthington's Law?