High tech hiring runs afoul of RICO?

The Wall Street Journal has reported (4/10/10) that the Justice Department is investigating whether high tech companies collude to hold down the salaries of engineers. Since certain companies do share salary data by pooling their information, the net effect is to curtail competitive bidding for talent.

Commentary on the article was instructive. I think one point that was missed is that with tax increases coming, the U.S. needs to mint more high-income earners, and engineers are typically paid less than legal and financial professionals, so boosting engineering pay would raise new income tax revenues and result in more students choosing to enter engineering programs in college.