I worry a lot about trying to get kids to study math simply because it's well paid indoor work with no heavy lifting.

That's really, really not why math should be studied. Math should be studied because it's interesting and fun. You might get a short term burst by claiming it will lead to more money, but study after study after study show that money is not a good motivator, especially the promise of money in the far distant future.

Math should be shown to be intrinsically interesting. It is, honest. We just need to figure out how to convey that. And if you don't think it is, you haven't found the fun bits.

OK, it doesn't suit everyone. But if we can find out how to teach it, then we'll find that it suits more than it does now.

I didn't encounter any interesting maths until I was 18 and in my first year of a Mech Eng degree. Perhaps it was just the way it was taught in secondary school, altho' I was good at it there didn't seem to be much point. Then they taught us linear programming and it was literally mind-expanding. Suddenly a whole class of things I couldn't even think about before was opened up before me. The question is, how can that moment be experienced younger, by people who don't already have an A-level (or high school diploma, whatever you call it).

They are well-paid because relatively few people are good enough at maths to do it at a professional level. And we need the Harvard Business Review to tell us that?

This just in: rock stars make a tonne of money (and I mean actual rock stars, not Rails developers) so why aren't kids learning to play the guitar?

Getting any well paid job involves first paying your dues in practice or study. Anyone who is willing to do that will prosper in any field. That is what schools should be teaching.