Wall Stree bonuses

From economist Robert Reich's Facebook, March 11, 2015

Post by Robert Reich.

According to figures released today, Wall Street bonuses totaled $28.5 billion for 2014. That sum is double the combined annual earnings of the more than 1 million American full-time minimum wage workers. (Thanks to Sarah Anderson of the Institute for Policy Studies for this analysis.) The size of the Street's bonus pool was 27 percent higher than in 2009, the last time Congress increased the minimum wage. The bonus pool exceeds the amounts needed to lift the wages of all 2.9 million restaurant servers and bartenders, all 1.5 million home health and personal care aides, or all 2.2 million fast food preparation and serving workers up to $15 per hour. Had the $28.5 billion in Wall Street bonuses gone to minimum wage workers (who, unlike Wall Street moguls, spend nearly every dollar they make), the U.S. economy would get a boost three times larger than that provided by the bonuses.

I don’t expect Wall Streeters to turn their bonuses over to minimum-wage workers. But wouldn’t it be nice if they used their considerable political clout (a portion of their salaries and bonuses goes into political campaigns) to demand an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour?