The average salary of a U.S. worker is around $55,000. The average bonus paid to a Wall Steet banker is $123,850 according the state comptroller of New York. It shouldn’t be any wonder then why average Americans are more than a little steamed at the big Wall Street banks.

Goldman Sachs (GS) paid a total of about $16 billion in bonuses in 2009. JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) paid out roughly $9 billion in bonuses. Citigroup (C) capped Citibank employee bonuses below $100,000, at about the same level as 2008 bonus payments totaling $5.3 billion.

Earnings at all three banks were up in 2009, which in any other year may have justified the big payouts. But with most Americans trying desperately to hold on to their jobs and making do with flat wages and little or no credit, the image the banks have projected is one of almost pure greed.

The banks argue that their bonus payments are based on performance and that if they don’t pay bonuses, their top talent will go elsewhere. There is some truth to that. But where will that talent go? If all the big banks cut bonuses substantially, doesn’t the playing field level out again? Maybe in the U.S., but there are plenty of banks in other parts of the world that might be willing to pay.

And that’s where the stumbling block comes. If the U.S. passes legislation capping Wall Street bonuses, does the country run the risk of losing its status as the financial capital of the world? And what price is that status worth?

The financial reform package proposed by President Obama would limit the amount of leverage and risk a bank could assume, which would in turn limit profits and ultimately bonuses. Additionally, the bonus payments raise the question of whether or not the U.S. should limit the size of its largest financial institutions. If the big banks are making this much money and unemployment remains high, public sentiment against the banking system will continue to grow — and may grow loud enough to cause politicians to seriously review the country’s banking laws.

The banks don’t do a lot to help their own cause either. A Goldman Sachs spokesman told the UK parliament that the bank’s efforts to help Greece hide its financial woes from investors was not “inappropriate.”

Right. We’re supposed to trust liars now.

Profits aren’t illegal or immoral. When investment banks earn profits from financing growth in the overall economy, no reasonable person could object to those profits. But when the profits come from financial instruments that benefit only the banks and no one else, it is equally reasonable to question the source of the banks’ profits and the benefits that accrue to the society that supports them.

Tell us what you think here.

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