Who said we are in a recession? Bernake said it.

Regardless Wall Street is earning more (estimated) in 2009, than it did in 2005, when things were hot. Oh, those were the times.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is on track to pay out as much as $20 billion this year, or about $700,000 per employee. That would be nearly double the firm’s $363,000 average last year, and slightly higher than the $661,000 for the average Goldman employee in fiscal 2007, according to analyst estimates reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. - WSJ

Morgan Stanley is also mentioned in the story, and they are paying very similar rates as they were in 2005. Which means that Goldman Sachs, are probably earning a higher rate of return than Morgan Stanley.

What does this mean? Many would like to believe we coming out of the recession -  I know, I would - yet It is too early to tell. Financial Services industry is one of the most in demand professions, regardless of the financial mess we are in now.

Do Analysts really deserve their pay? Well regardless of they do or not, the Board of Directors are allowing this to go through. Which means that somebody thinks these analysts are worth that. News anchors, nightly, discuss the popular phrase “Pay to retain Talent,” as a rebutle to opponites. Then other people, say why pay to retain those people who got us into this mess. You remember.

The truth is that, we are all responsible for what happened. Not just regulators, Banks, Lack Lending Rules, Bernake, but us the consumers who took the loan too. If we lost the financial world, we would be in a deeply precarious situation, as the growth of the financial world helps society worldwide, regardless.

I would like to hear what you guys have to say about Financial Analysts and thir Pay.