View source for Positive non-interventionism

{{Short description|Hong Kong's economic policy of the 1970s and 1980s; forerunner to neoliberalism}}
{{Chicago school (economics)}}
'''Positive non-interventionism''' ({{lang-zh|積極不干預}}) was the [[economic policy]] of [[Hong Kong]]; this policy can be traced back to the time when Hong Kong was under [[United Kingdom|British]] rule. It was first officially implemented in 1971{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} by [[Financial Secretary (Hong Kong)|Financial Secretary of Hong Kong]] [[John James Cowperthwaite|John Cowperthwaite]], who believed that the economy was doing well in the absence of [[government intervention]] but that it was important to create the regulatory and physical infrastructure to facilitate [[free market|market]]-based decision making. The policy was continued by subsequent Financial Secretaries, including Sir [[Philip Haddon-Cave]]. Economist [[Milton Friedman]] has cited it as a fairly comprehensive implementation of [[laissez-faire]] policy.<ref name="The Man Behind the Hong Kong Miracle – Foundation for Economic Education – Lawrence Reed author">{{cite web |last1=Reed |first1=Lawrence |title=The Man Behind the Hong Kong Miracle |url=https://fee.org/articles/the-man-behind-the-hong-kong-miracle/ |website=fee.org/ |date=10 February 2014 |publisher=Foundation for Economic Education |access-date=12 January 2022}}</ref>

Financial Secretaries [[Donald Tsang]], [[Antony Leung]], [[Henry Tang]] and [[John Tsang]] all defended the minimal intervention approach.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Peter |date=2023-04-01 |title=Explainer: Why Hong Kong is constitutionally obliged to balance the books |url=https://hongkongfp.com/2023/04/01/explainer-why-hong-kong-is-constitutionally-obliged-to-balance-the-books/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Hong Kong Free Press HKFP |language=en-GB}}</ref>

== First-hand explanation ==
According to Cowperthwaite:

<blockquote>In the long run, the aggregate of decisions of individual businessmen, exercising individual judgment in a free economy, even if often mistaken, is less likely to do harm than the centralised decisions of a government; and certainly the harm is likely to be counteracted faster.<ref>[http://www.legco.gov.hk/1966/h660324.pdf Official Report of Proceedings of the Hong Kong Legislative Council] (March 24–25, 1966) p. 216</ref></blockquote>

According to Haddon-Cave:

<blockquote>positive non-interventionism involves taking the view that it is normally futile and damaging to the [[Economic growth|growth rate]] of an economy, particularly an [[open economy]], for the Government to attempt to plan the allocation of resources available to the [[private sector]] and to frustrate the operation of market forces.</blockquote>

Haddon-Cave goes on to say that the "positive" part means the government carefully considers each possible intervention to determine "where the advantage" lies, and, although usually it will come to the conclusion that the intervention is harmful, sometimes it will decide to intervene.

==See also==
* [[John James Cowperthwaite]]
* [[Milton Friedman]]
* [[Philip Haddon-Cave]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081205021241/http://www.ceo.gov.hk/eng/press/oped.htm Big Market, Small Government]- by Donald Tsang, Chief Executive of Hong Kong
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[[Category:Economic ideologies]]
[[Category:Economy of Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Capitalism]]