When even chief executives believe that chief executives are paid too much you know that something is wrong. America’s politicians know it too – the rising incomes of the rich relative to the middle classes will feature in next year’s presidential election – and if US companies want to avoid heavy-handed legislation they need to act themselves. They could start by supporting proposals to give shareholders more power to nominate company directors.

A sizeable majority of the US CEOs and presidents surveyed for a new study, and more than 80 per cent of outside directors, think chief executives get paid too much. The 2.2 per cent of company bosses who reckon that executive compensation is too low deserve credit for chutzpah, but more thoughtful bosses clearly realise that the present situation is unsustainable.