HK & the world -- the Adam Smith Link
“We take the view that Adam Smith’s ideas about the free market is about “making men better” and “not merely better-off” and that Smith still has some unspoken and unfilled visions about the human society which may well constitute what he has called the “Free Market Commercial Society” and the “System of Natural Liberty” are all about.
“We think it is arguable, as Neil Monnery did in his book “Architect of Prosperity: Sir John Copperwaite and the making of Hong Kong” that Copperwaite has implemented in Hong Kong the world’s first political economy experiment based on the ideas and thoughts of Adam Smith. “
The Hong Kong Heritage
Lord Palmerson has made a famous remark in 1841 that Hong Kong at that time was only “a barren island with hardly a house upon it.” It was of absolutely no significance to the world at that time and it is also beyond the wildest imagination of probably anyone at that time this little island could ever command any real significance in world affairs in the future.
Yet, history is often full of surprises. Hong Kong is still not yet a city that commands real importance to the world at large. That said, it looks fair to say that it has gone a long way already from where it starts in terms of relevance and importance to the world economy and the story of the Human civilization. And we do take the view that the city has considerable credentials and potential to still go much further along such path.
And one key catalyst to this could well be Adam Smith.
We would argue that the architecture of the modern world comes considerably from the ideas and thoughts of Adam Smith. And among all cities in the world, Hong Kong may still rank among the top in terms of the relative penetration of Adam Smith’s ideas & thoughts into their social and economic fabric.
More importantly, we take the view that the story of the Human Civilization would soon enter into a new phase in the years to come. How that would unfold would depend on many evolving parameters but we would argue that greater appreciation and understanding of Adam Smith’s ideas and thoughts, in particular his unspoken and unfulfilled vision on human societies, could well be among the healthiest and most balanced forces to shape the coming courses of the story of Human Civilization.
And to the extent that Hong Kong is linked to both the East and the West in some unique and special ways, the relevance and importance of this city in the story of the Humanities could well reach another level in the years to come The attached ppt summarises some of our current thoughts on this subject matter.