Populism can often lead to destructive exaggerations, one typical example being an amendment tabled in Parliament to further slash the salaries of high-ranking executives at state-owned corporations and banks.

No one doubts that in the past there was a plethora of scandalous instances where inadequate people were paid hefty sums to fill executive positions.

However, when you slash the salaries as far as the government is proposing to do, what kind of person will accept the difficult job of running a state-owned company or bank?

When it comes to these areas, cutting salaries too much becomes a dangerous strategy that more often than not leads to a rise in cases of corruption and cronyism, with people being found for these jobs from the ranks of political parties or lobbies simply because no technocrat will step up to take them.