US SEC-filing banks paid themselves $2.2 trillion in compensation since 2008.

Evidence

Since the 2008 crisis, banks that file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission have awarded themselves $2.2 trillion in compensation. I repeat—since the crisis. Austerity is a great policy for the banks because the people who are to pay for the mess are not the same ones who made it. — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 148

Categorization

• CANDY: A punchy, headline-worthy number: $2.2 trillion in banker compensation since the crisis.
• SEED: Angle: the causal asymmetry of austerity policy — those who caused the crisis are never the ones who pay — as a defining feature.