One of the big reasons that lawyers and doctors make a lot more money is because they use regulation and the coercive power of the state for the benefit of their cartel. You are going to get a top of the line lawyer and pay through the nose because your business, freedom, even your life may depend on it. The number of lawyers and doctors is limited to an artificial shortage due to bar exams and number of residency spots. Non-US bar exams and residencies, no matter how qualified, are not recognized. That means a top neurosurgeon from the most prestigious hospital in any country can not practice in the US unless he spends 6+ years in a US residency program.
Now, does that mean that programmers should clamor for more regulation in their trade? Of course not! for one, that would mean that the current lead of the US in the tech industry would be replaced by over-priced, substandard products and harm the culture of innovation and freedom. Instead, if many of these regulations in other areas were brought down, young programmers making 60k won't have to pay exhorbitant sums for simple things like getting a root canal or registering a business or fighting off patent harassment.
I am not so sure that the free market does really offer what you're saying. For example, a big problem in have in the US is that a lot of smart people don't want to become programmers (for example, because they don't want to compete with programmers from India). But it is well known that the USA has more openings for programmers than available workers. So, it seems that the free market is not doing its job of moving more workers to the field.
Regulation would have the very beneficial side effect that salaries would increase, and therefore it would encourage lots of people to become trained in the IT industry. This would not have an adverse effect in the competitiveness of US companies. It is well known that salaries are just a small portion of the costs for major software companies. Moreover, salaries for programmers in the US are already way higher than in other nations, which doesn't seem to have had a negative influence in the results achieved by these companies.
Regulation would mean people being certified by the Louisiana Board of Computer Programming for the Wizwoz system 2.0. Yuck! Some of the software industry will move abroad, but even more most large countries will start having local markets. The thing going for software is very fast innovation and adoption, leading to IT, software, mobile undercutting a lot of traditional industries and practices, and this is just the beginning. Stopping it would mean killing the golden goose.
Now, does that mean that programmers should clamor for more regulation in their trade? Of course not! for one, that would mean that the current lead of the US in the tech industry would be replaced by over-priced, substandard products and harm the culture of innovation and freedom. Instead, if many of these regulations in other areas were brought down, young programmers making 60k won't have to pay exhorbitant sums for simple things like getting a root canal or registering a business or fighting off patent harassment.