In 2006, New York's investment banks paid out $40bn (adjusted for inflation) in bonuses around ten times the budget of the UN, says Economist.com. After the financial crisis bonuses fell, but they are now creeping up again.
The bonus pool jumped by 15% to $26.7bn in 2013, and the average bonus jumped to $164,530, the third-highest average on record all despite a 30% drop in Wall Street banks' combined profits last year.
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