Chart of the Day: Life is Good on Wall Street

Test Ticker

Monika Bauerlein,
CEO

Dear Reader,

December is make-or-break for Mother Jones’ fundraising. We have a $350,000 goal that we simply cannot afford to miss. And in "No Cute Headlines or Manipulative BS," we explain, as matter-of-fact as we can, how being a nonprofit means everything to us. Bottom line: Donations big and small make up 74 percent of our budget this year and are urgently needed this month, and all online gifts will be matched and go twice as far until we hit our goal. Please pitch in if you can right now.

December is make-or-break for Mother Jones’ fundraising, and in "No Cute Headlines or Manipulative BS," we hope that giving it to you as matter-of-fact as we can will work to raise the $350,000 we need to raise this month. Donations make up 74 percent of our budget this year, and all online gifts will be matched and go twice as far until we hit our goal.

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

Via Catherine Rampell, this chart shows the growth of Wall Street salaries compared to the salaries of everyone else in New York. It comes from an annual report by the New York State comptroller, and in my continuing quest to add value to other people’s charts, I’ve adjusted the beginning numbers for inflation so you can see the growth rate more clearly. Wall Street salaries have risen 11.2% per year, while all other salaries have risen 1.8% per year.

Note also that after nearly destroying the world in 2008 and seeing their average salaries plummet to a mere $310,000 a year, things have already rebounded nicely for Wall Street. I guess it’s because they’ve done such a great job of getting the economy moving again.