[caddemon]

They're not talking about the general population, they're talking about a niche career where salaries are in large part driven by performance-related bonuses. "On Wall Street" is perhaps too generic, and sure talent will always factor in too, but there are still trading jobs that exist where work output correlates directly with pay. The fact that across jobs nationally the correlation doesn't hold is irrelevant.

[curiousgal]

Yeah even that is not true. Sure if you have a direct impact on PnL you can expect your bonus to be tied to your performance, otherwise, i.e. 90% of the workforce in an investment bank, you have a fixed grid for bonuses.