A week ago we reported [7]that despite making 50% less money for the Treasury in the first quarter, the hedge fund formerly known as the Federal Reserve was generous enough to hike the salaries of its employees by a (true inflation indexed?) 11.7%. It appears the workers of the Fed's Markets Group are not the only ones who can barely make ends meet: next up - investment banks, and specifically UBS, which as Bloomberg just reported has hiked the salaries of its bankers by 9%.
UBS said to increase investment bankers' salaries by average of 9%
— Bloomberg News (@BloombergNews) May 30, 2013 [8]
And since banks always do compensation decisions in tandem, expect every other bank to hike wages appropriately to avoid "disgruntlement."
The good news - trickle down works.
The bad news - it is only working for those for whom trickle down has always worked (courtesy of the Cantillon Effect and the fact that Wall Street has owned the nation since the advent of the Fed), and for those who have zero urgent need of that marginal dollar increase.
But maybe, some time during QEternity^infinity, the same trickling will finally spill over into the broader economy and the much desired wage inflation will finally reach Main Street.
We wouldn't hold our breath.