Engine builders...this machining cost sound excessive?

Here is my $0.02. This is just like so many other, "I remember when that only cost..." comments. People come up to me all the time and say stuff like, "The mechanic wants $300 for a brake job. Isn't that too much?" I always tell them the mechanic has to pay rent on his building, he has to pay his mechanics a living wage, he either pays someone to answer the phone and order/track parts or does it himself at the expense of working on a car, he has to pay unemployment insurance on his employees he has to pay payroll tax on his employees, he probably pays for health insurance on his employees, he has to pay for liability insurance for his business, he has to pay for shop equipment and consumable supplies, plus lots of other expenses. The days of a $75 brake job are over. I think a lot of people get trapped in this line of thinking.