Exactly. It is better to be the oppressor than to be the oppressed!

It doesn't speak well for you or your organization if you think developers are interchangeable regardless of economic conditions. Organizations that have that attitude always end up with a statistically impressive set of third rate programmers. That's because the good ones get tired of not being valued, watching inferior ideas win, etc, and easily can move on, while mediocre programmers eventually realize that they've finally found a job that won't weed them out. This process accelerates until all you have is mediocre programmers that know they suck and count themselves lucky to have a job, and inferior programmers that have yet to figure that out. The only way good programmers come in is via new hires. In other words, by accident, and they leave once they wise up.