I expect ETOPS that the persons you are talking about in NYC are expatriates and moved there on a promise or at least a reasonable expectation of being paid in accordance with a contract signed in good faith. They have law that would no doubt protect their contract, no? Are they making financial plans on their contract or on the whims of their employers?
I expect they are also remunerated according to the market forces in the cities in which they live and are paid according to their productivity. No chance of course of a partnership and dead mans shoes for promotion.
They would not be able to drive home for the weekend (I assume they have weekends off? Or are they working shifts?) as their families are in different countries, no?
Whats a lawyer in London earning in the second decade?
For what its worth I have some sympathy for your disdain of over extended speculators but for the rest I'm not so sure.