The coming week in Hong Kong
There are those of us who prefer our trade free and our capitalism unfettered. This is not just because, for instance, a liberalized retail trade environment makes for happier and more satisfied consumers — and yes, that means you too; or because we grew up with the crappy overpriced stuff manufactured by industries protected from overseas competition; or because we saw that the only period where our third-world-economic-backwater-that-should-be-much-richer-save-for-generations-of-inept-politics enjoyed any real progress in the last 20 years was when we adopted a steady program of trade and investment liberalization under the only leader we ever had with genuine vision.
No, we honestly believe that any prescription for development and poverty alleviation must contain an element of free movement of goods, services and investment.
Fervent as our beliefs are, however, most of us in this camp are focusing our energies on avoiding the massive annoyances that will accompany MC6 (a nice little shortcut I picked up from actually reading the local news). Then there’s this guy who talks the talk and walks the walk. I like him very much.
[…] Apropos of our earlier rant on free trade and development, here’s a NY Times op-ed piece that has the gall, the gall, I tell ya, to find Bono, Pitt and Jolie and their misplaced, misinformed do-gooding annoying. I say aye, Mr. Theroux. […]