Main Street

$20.3 Billion

Last year, Wall Street made $55 billion in profits and gave out $20.3 billion in bonuses, 17% more than in 2008.

Average taxable bonuses on Wall Street rose to $123,850 in 2009, DiNapoli said. Compensation at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley, three of New York’s biggest banks, rose 31 percent, he added.

Mother Jones has a few suggestions for things that $20 billion could have been better spent on:

1. You could pay the salaries of more than 390,000 public school teachers across the country.
2. You could close nearly all of California’s gaping budget hole.
3. You could almost cover unemployment-fund shortfalls, now nearing $25 billion, in 25 different states.

Mother Jones has more; I bet most of us could think of ways to add to their list.

Tags: Wall Street