[msandford]

The central issue here is one of limiting risk. It's far easier to destroy prosperity than it is to achieve it, similar to a reputation. It's less important for a good politician to be able to achieve good things than it is for a bad politician not to be able to achieve bad things.

[pekk]

For example, one might decide to make massive political reforms which sound good (and populist) without fully considering all their implications, and thereby destroy prosperity