Yes, I think we are agreement. There is no such thing as a cost of living adjustment. Or rather, it is better to frame it as
“employer offering employee what they think employee will accept because employee will probably have less options to earn more by being in a certain location”
Obviously, a highly in demand programmer or whatnot will be able to live wherever they want and demand whatever they want. That is all it has ever been and always will be, aka a market where buyers try to buy for as low of a price as possible and sellers try to sell for as high of a price as possible.
“employer offering employee what they think employee will accept because employee will probably have less options to earn more by being in a certain location”
Obviously, a highly in demand programmer or whatnot will be able to live wherever they want and demand whatever they want. That is all it has ever been and always will be, aka a market where buyers try to buy for as low of a price as possible and sellers try to sell for as high of a price as possible.