While the article makes (and backs up) that unremarkable claim, there's some real meat further in.

> You might think high-paying jobs at these agencies require special skills. Not so. At the OCC, secretaries make on average $79,182 per annum. Motor vehicle operators (the agency's limo drivers) at the FDIC earn $82,130. Human resources management trainees at the CFPB make $110,759 a year.

> Salary premiums are especially large for easy-to-fill jobs that require no specialized, hard-to-hire skills.

And I would assume average bank employee includes tellers who are paid close to minimum wage.

Yes. And a small group watching a large group can get by with higher pay if they are sufficiently talented.

This is not to say that I endorse a world where large regulatory bodies take all the profits from the regulated and pay themselves salaries, just that this article is a little misleading.

Agreed, it would appear that instead of heavily incentivising the positions that the private sector pays more for they raised pay across the board.

"play on words" - That's a nice euphemism for it. A better one would be just plain "lie".