March, 12 2014, 11:45am EDT
New Report on Wall Street Bonuses and the Minimum Wage
WASHINGTON
The $26.7 billion in bonuses Wall Street banks handed out in 2013 would be enough to more than double the pay for all 1,085,000 full-time U.S. minimum wage workers, according to an Institute for Policy Studies analysis of New York State Comptroller bonus figures released this morning.
IPS also calculated the differential between the economic stimulus effect of the Wall Street bonuses versus what might be expected with an equivalent increase in minimum wage worker earnings. If the $26.7 billion had gone into the pockets of minimum wage workers, the U.S. GDP would be expected to grow by about $32.3 billion, more than triple the $10.4 billion boost expected from the Wall Street bonuses.
The full IPS report "Wall Street Bonuses and the Minimum Wage" is attached. It will be available online shortly at this link.
For more information, contact:
Sarah Anderson, report author and Global Economy Project Director, Institute for Policy Studies, sarah@ips-dc.org, tel: 202 787 5227
Elaine de Leon, Communications Director, Institute for Policy Studies, elaine@ips-dc.org, tel: 202 787 5271
Institute for Policy Studies turns Ideas into Action for Peace, Justice and the Environment. We strengthen social movements with independent research, visionary thinking, and links to the grassroots, scholars and elected officials. I.F. Stone once called IPS "the think tank for the rest of us." Since 1963, we have empowered people to build healthy and democratic societies in communities, the US, and the world. Click here to learn more, or read the latest below.
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