Needless to say, Goldman’s third quarter results were good, but they weren’t that good.

Quarter on quarter, revenues are down just about everywhere except asset management. M&A is dire, commodities and FX are down on 3Q08 and clearly past their peak, and equities commissions are being squeezed until they squeak.

Needless to say, Goldman is paying very well (hence a rush of headlines about bumper bonuses), but it’s not paying as well as it might have done.

The comp ratio fell to 43% in the last quarter, leaving Goldman bankers with an average $527k for the first nine months. If the ratio had remained at the traditional 48% level, the average Goldmanite would be on track for $545k. And were it not for the fact that Goldman actually added 500 people in the last quarter, Goldman man would have got $554k.

Despite collectively paying its employees nearly $600k less than expected in Q3, Goldman also doesn’t appear to be being as benevolent as anticipated. Yesterday, speculation was that it would be giving $1bn to charity to assuage its bonus guilt. In fact, it’s giving $200m.