Is Hong Kong at the forefront of conducting the Smith experiment globally to date?
Since the 1960s, no matter how many storms Hong Kong has experienced, it has always been able to stand up again, and its achievements have been greater and greater each time, completely exceeding almost everyone’s expectations beforehand.
Author: GUDORDI | 2026-01-14
國家不能只靠幼稚地不斷積聚金屬而變得富有；國家的財富只會隨着其人民的生活不斷改善而持續增加。 A nation is not made wealthy by the childish accumulation of shiny metals, but enriched by the economic prosperity of its people.
── 亞當·史密斯（Adam Smith）
在上回，筆者提到另一詮釋史密斯思想的角度，就是終其一身，他都是在思索怎樣才可令人類社會變得更好，而他在心中可能早已有一個相當把握的答案，但由於理論結構和證據仍未達到他要求的極嚴謹水平，因此未有正式說出來。
但若我們細閱他的兩本巨著《道德情操論》和《國富論》，以及他一生的言行，答案其實已經呼之欲出。一般學者稱之為「自由商業社會」（Free commercial society），但筆者認為「自由市場商業社會」（Free market commercial society）會更貼切。
Smith's ideas were deified and simplified.
However, Smith’s vision of a ” society that makes people better ” is certainly not the “simple, laissez -faire capitalistic economy” that many people imagine. Later economists and the media have overly mythologized and simplified his understanding of the market system . Anyone who has carefully read his works and understands his life and actions will feel that Smith was a person with great compassion for the poor and a high degree of vigilance against businessmen interfering in politics .
Undoubtedly , Smith believes that the government plays an important and irreplaceable role in the operation of society , but an important principle is that although the government has power, it should try not to use it and consciously delegate as much as possible what can be done to the market… But looking at history, how many governments are willing to voluntarily put aside their power and wait for the market to handle things on its own ?
For Smith, the fact that the country is full of small shop owners, merchants, and traders is not a problem, but rather a “strong signal,” a manifestation of resilience and potential. (Shutterstock)
The rise of a nation full of small shop owners
Napoleon once said, ” Britain is a nation of shopkeepers ,” a statement tinged with contempt. In Napoleon’s eyes, the pursuit of military glory was the hallmark of a great power. Therefore, he believed that Britain, primarily composed of small shopkeepers , was of limited ability and could not rival him . However, judging from the introduction to this article , Smith disagrees with this view.
For Smith, a country full of shopkeepers, merchants, and traders is not a problem, but rather a “signs of strength,” a manifestation of resilience and potential. Smith didn’t elaborate on the reasons, but it’s likely because small shopkeepers, merchants, and traders are important members of a free market business society. They are usually self-reliant individuals, rarely large enough to monopolize an entire industry or collude with the government to create artificial monopolies. Therefore, they all face competition, not only from within the country but also potentially from overseas.
The pressure of competition often spurs creativity, forcing them to constantly seek opportunities and improve technology from all sides, or to gradually find and establish their strongest areas for focused development. This is a manifestation of division of labor and cooperation , Smith ‘s code for wealth creation, and the source of national wealth . This may also be a key reason why Britain was able to rise from a small country on the periphery of Europe to become the world’s largest empire.
In the 1960s, Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary, Kwok Pak-wai, launched what was described as “the boldest and most ambitious” political and economic experiment in human history. (Wikimedia Commons)
A unique political and economic experiment in history?
Regardless, history has proven that even a military genius like Napoleon could not ultimately defeat a Britain composed of small shopkeepers . However, since becoming the world’s largest empire, Britain has not continued to develop in this direction . In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher, who aspired to rebuild British national identity, was the daughter of a grocer, and she repeatedly spoke of the merits of her culture. Looking back today, Thatcher accomplished many remarkable things, but despite ruling for 11 years, she ultimately failed to achieve her goals and had to resign under political pressure , demonstrating that establishing a free market commercial society is by no means an easy task.
Whether it was purely a historical coincidence, or perhaps the arduous struggles and hardships of the Chinese nation over the past century moved Heaven, or perhaps Heaven was determined to find a place where humanity could experiment with the natural integration of Eastern and Western civilizations, Hong Kong, in the late 1960s , surprisingly produced a high-ranking official who truly understood Smith’s ideas and was able to convince many high-ranking government officials at the time that Smith’s ideas were the best way to govern Hong Kong. It has been said that the then Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, Kwok Pak-wai, implemented what was arguably the “laziest and lowest-cost” yet also the “boldest and most ambitious” political and economic experiment in human history. Whether this statement is right or wrong , it is noteworthy and worthy of deep reflection.
Regardless of the ups and downs Hong Kong has experienced since the 1960s, it has always managed to rise again , achieving ever greater successes than ever before, far exceeding almost everyone’s prior expectations . Looking back today, has Smith’s protection truly vanished, or have we simply yet to find a way to rekindle it? I will discuss this further later.
