About now, new CEO Gorman is probably learning that the meager profits of a retail brokerage can't pay for all those monster Wall Street bonuses.

眼下，这位大摩新掌门或许意识到了来自零售经纪业务的微薄盈利还不够华尔街薪酬的血盆大口塞牙缝。

youdao

Wages have effectively shrunk for most workers, as rising costs for food and fuel have more than absorbed meager increases in pay, further crimping Americans' spending proclivities.

实际上，对于大多数人来说，他们的工资已经减少了。食品和汽油不断上涨的价格正吞噬着稍有增加的工资，并进一步引诱美国人这方面的消费倾向。

youdao

Even the smallest daily activity, like brushing one's teeth, requires a trip to the tank, where people pay a large portion of their meager salaries for containers of cloudy,brackish water.

VOA: standard.2010.08.04

Instead, some might even be inclined to applaud them for taking such a heavy pay cut in these meager times.

FORBES: Bankers' bonuses: dubious use more than dubious ethics