I like to think about PIC-time in the same way as one of my instructors did a couple of years ago when he said something like "If someone gets hurt by the spinning parts, I'll take the blame, so when it's turning I'm logging the time and getting the money."
This is not to be confused with airborne time that goes into the books.
Economics is not my strong side, so I won't comment on that.
/2beers