Wall Street earnings have long been a target of criticism from progressives but their hefty earnings may be even more tremendous than we thought.
According to a new analysis from Inequality.org, the Wall Street bonus pool in 2018 total $27.5 billion. That is more than three times the combined annual earnings of all U.S. full-time minimum wage workers.
Comparatively that is the bonus pool for 181,300 employees versus the 640,000 U.S. workers employed full time at the federal minimum wage. And this was in a year in which “bonuses were down.”
According to Inequality.org: “Since 1985 the average Wall Street bonus has increased by 1,000 percent, from $13,970 to $153,700. If the minimum wage had increased at that rate, it would be worth $33.51 today, instead of $7.25.”
Remember, these bonuses come on top of salary and other compensation. The CEOs of the top 5 U.S. investment banks along brought in an average of $24.7 million in total compensation in 2018.
On an individual basis, the average 2018 bonus for a Wall Street employee was $153,700. An individual worker making federal minimum wage brings in $15,080 a year total, based on a 40-hour work week.
In addition to the massive wealth inequality this highlights, Inequality.org also points out that Wall Street employees are overwhelmingly male and white, while minimum wage workers are predominantly women and people of color. More than two-thirds of securities industry employees on Wall Street are
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