Robert of Be'er Sheva (rather indirectly) sent me this email:

Bank of Israel's top execs pull down way more than US Fed's top execs.

According to this article, the (Bank of Israel) ombudsman got paid the equivalent of $262,114 in 2004. By contrast, I surfed the internet for info on the US Federal Reserve Bank and found that, "Congress sets the salaries of Board members. As of 2004, the chairman's annual salary was $171,900 and the annual salary of the other governors (including the vice chairman) was $154,700.

It's fascinating to compare the differences between the US and Israel. In the US, the salaries of the Fed are determined by congress and openly (if I only knew where to search). Here in Israel, the BOI apparently sets its own salaries, and has the right (or at least the power) not to publish the way it uses public funds to pay its employees. In the US, which I'm guessing is a more demanding job, the top dogs at the Fed earn considerably less than $200k per year, while in tiny Israel, even the ombudsman is pulling down well over $200k, and will soon be making $713k per year, though this includes all payments including pension funds. Still, the real annual salary is certainly well in excess of $500k.

You gotta love the chutzpah of the folks who run our dear country.