But a freelance BA or PM cannot produce software independently, whereas a developer can. A developer has all of the skills of a developer, and many of the skills of a BA/PM, the reverse is not true.
Only if you choose your definitions to support your preconceived result by counting anyone with any programming ability whatsoever as "developer", no matter their primary field of work and expertise.
A developer can definitely produce software independently. I do that as well. But the question is about selling that software to the business users. This is where a good BA/PM comes in again. I have said before that in small setup such as startups etc which produce software as their core business, a developer can possibly wear all hats. But in large corporate settings, developers do not want to go through the pain of people management, bureaucracy, follow ups etc.
