Hong Kong the Adam Smith City
“ The Wealth of Nations is the most important book ever written about capitalism and its moral ramifications.. It was intended to make men better, not just better-off .. ”
– Jerry Muller
We think it is important to take note of that Adam Smith is NOT the apologist of the kind of Capitalist system many have in mind which is quite a misguided and over-simplistic conception to begin with.
We think it is important to take note of the fact that Adam Smith is a moral philosopher first and foremost and we propose that his life can be seen as a passionate attempt to articulate an alternative “intellectual structure” to theorize the world as he saw it which was very different from the old mercantilist semi-feudal order which saw the world as largely a zero-sum game. We think Adam Smith is of the view that the perspective he offered represents a much smarter way of looking at the world.
More importantly, we think Adam Smith believes that it is entirely conceivable that societies could evolve towards a state with “all ranks in society” reaching “opulence” but still exhibiting “virtues”, with elements of “prudence” to restrain the individuals’ excesses; elements of “justice” to prevent us from harming others; and elements of “beneficence” to promote the happiness of others.
In retrospect, Sir Cowperwaite, the financial secretary of Hong Kong in 1961-1971, has implemented one great political economy experiment in Hong Kong based on the ideas of his fellow Scotsman Adam Smith. In this light, Hong Kong is arguably the first Adam Smith city of the world and as such we think the city should be of relevance and importance in terms of experimenting on what Adam Smith has conceived as possible for societies; and in terms of theorizing on and putting into test what Adam Smith would write about today.