If this recession has you down, take heart in the fact that "chief creative officers" at America's biggest ad agencies are still able to charge people almost a thousand bucks an hour.

Yes—the Bogusky-type guys will cost you just as much as the most-plugged in corporate lawyer or shady DC lobbyist, according to Ad Age's report! I don't know why that seems ridiculous, on a comparative level. Let's agree they're all astoundingly expensive.

Down south they come cheaper, though. And various underlings with equally vague titles are slightly less expensive although still staggering. For example, "a director of client services in the New York Metro area billed an average of $453 an hour compared to $260 an hour at agencies in the middle part of the country."

At least someone is still grossly overpaid in this godforsaken country.