In higher education, finance professors make more than economists, and economists earn more than history professors

"In higher education, finance professors make more than economists, and economists earn more than history professors. It's a simply matter of supply and demand in the labor market. Some skills command higher returns outside of teaching than others. That doesn't demean history professors. History professor know they are likely to earn less money than finance professors (with exceptions like Stephen Ambrose) when they enter graduate school. There's a saying we have in economics – 'you can't repeal the law of supply and demand.' What that means is that if you don't let price clear the market then something else will. In the case of science and math, since we don't allow relative pay for these teachers rise, the market clears in the quality dimension. We have many educators 'teaching out of field' in those areas as compared to fields in which supply is more plentiful." – Michael Podgursky, professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Columbia. (September 17 EducationNews.org).