Putting Goldman’s Bonus Payouts in Perspective

Wall Street bonus checks will soon be (hopefully) clearing banks. It certainly will be a tough year for many fixed income professionals, and outside of Goldman many people are going to be disappointed with their haul.

But Goldman is like a small country; their compensation is larger than the GDP of Luxembourg.

But Americans are not good with maps, and it might be better to compare the numbers to a smaller states.

Indeed, Goldman’s widely quoted compensation pool of approximately $20 billion is equal to the GDP of South Dakota and is greater than the GDP’s of

Vermont..........$16.1 billion
North Dakota...$16.9 billion
Wyoming.........$16.4 billion

Goldman alum Dan Och’s $34 billion in assets are greater than the GDP of Idaho at $31 billion and Maine at $31.9 billion
Regional GDP: North America

We did not cross check the accuracy of those GDP numbers, but assume they are relatively accurate.  And while the upcoming year is generally expected to be a tough one, Goldman’s bonus pool might hit $30 to $40 billion in the next up cycle.

They might not feel so rich by then if Clinton or Obama have their way with tax policy, limousine liberals might want to be careful what they wish for.

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