PP brings up the infamous Katz letter, and Chad furthers the discussion.
It is topical, although the source is quite dated. Check out the discussion at Chad's place, I am too jaded to pontificate right now.
PS: Is anyone really offering $35k for postdocs still?
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plenty of postdocs DO still get paid $35K. Most universities offer in the range of $30K to $40K with a slant towards $35 and below.
What really surprises me is that government lab postdocs get about $45-70K, but at the same time I do not think (based on purely anecdotal experience) it's all that effective in attracting the best people. I think a lot of potential postdocs are afraid that associating your name with a gov't lab may affect your chances of getting an academic position.
I think it's total BS - I had offers from Princeton, Harvard, MIT, Chicago and Urbana - chose a government lab postdoc and didn't regret it - at least not yet. It's all about where you can do the best science.
I review lots of appointment letters. There are still some labs in the biological sciences that pay $35k (or even less) to postdocs. But here that would be seen as very low in any other science field. We're in a high cost of living area.
We have grad students making close to and slightly above $30k (+ tuition)! I'm sure that our highest compensated grads are making more than our lowest compensated postdocs. It is very field dependent. But our highest compensated postdocs probably beat our lowest compensated faculty, too.
Even staying in academia, a postdoc often has choices for the next step. Here, the choice is a hard-funded tenure track faculty position (very competitive, low salary in early years, moderate teaching load but great personal freedom) or a soft-funded professional research position (typically less competitive and far better paid, but much less autonomy and security).