DAVOS, Switzerland

Maybe someone deserves a bonus.

Like someone who sniffs out the next Bernie Madoff. Or jousts with tomorrow’s gonzo bankers. Or defuses the Next Big Crisis in whatever Next Big Thing is dreamed up by Wall Street.

Someone, in short, who regulates.

It is clear that the nation’s financial regulators were no match for Wall Street last time. The financiers were always one step ahead. But maybe that isn’t surprising. The financiers, after all, have a big incentive to outsmart the financial police. It is called a bonus. Wall Street lures a lot of bright minds with money. How can federal agencies compete? They can’t.

The numbers are sobering. Mary L. Schapiro, the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, will make about $162,000 a year. Timothy F. Geithner, the new Treasury secretary, will pull down about $191,300.

Both of them will make less than many 20-somethings made on Wall Street during the boom. And keep in mind that people who work for Ms. Schapiro and Mr. Geithner, and their counterparts at other regulators, make less than their bosses.