John james cowperthwaite biography meaning

‘Due to our low tax policy . . . revenue has increased.’
John James Cowperthwaite, Hong Kong Financial Secretary, 1961-71

Fourteenth-century Tunisian, Ibn Khaldun, is probably the greatest philosopher of the Islamic Golden Age. In his magnum opus, The Muqaddimah, he wrote:

‘In the early stages of an empire, taxes are light in their incidence, but fetch in large revenue. As time passes and kings succeed each other, they lose their tribal habits in favour of more civilised ones. Their needs and exigencies grow . . . owing to the luxury in which they have been brought up. Hence they impose fresh taxes on their subjects . . . and sharply raise the rate of old taxes to increase their yield . . . But the effects on business of this rise in taxation make themselves felt. For businessmen are soon discouraged by the comparison of their profits with the burden of their taxes . . . Consequently, production falls off, and with it the yield of taxation.’

Never mind his own Islam, he might have been describing Rome or Greece before, or Britain or the US after. Low taxation and small government accompany the ascent of great civilisations, high taxation and big government their demise.

It may be counter-intuitive, but it is an observation that goes back centuries. Low tax rates often bring in greater revenue, while higher tax rates bring in less.

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Khaldun was not the first to make this observation. It was the guiding philosophy of the fourth caliph, Ali. Take great care, he instructed his governors, ‘to ensure the prosperity of those who pay taxes. The proper upkeep of the land in cultivation is of greater importance than the collection of revenue for revenue cannot be derived unless the land is productive.’

If conditions are bad, then suspend taxes, he advised. “Do not mind the loss of revenue on that account, for that will return to you one day manifold in the hour of greater prosperity of the land and enable you to improve the condition of your town

Crouching Asian Tiger, Hidden Scottish Dragon: Careers of Sir John James Cowperthwaite Preface Sir John James Cowperthwaite was born on April 25, 1915. (A&C Black, 1969) He grew up in Edinburgh and then later in his life, set economic miracles on a little port called Hong Kong, the oriental side of the Eurasian plate. He was largely credited for transforming Hong Kong from a poor fishing village into a thriving city. TIME magazine dubbed ‘Nylonkong’ to exemplify New York, London and Hong Kong as the three most important commercial centres in the world. (Elliot, 2008) No one had written a biography of him given the originality of what he had done. The magnitude of his influence is juxtaposed with his inaction throughout his years as the Financial Secretary from 1961 to 1971. As an old classic liberal, he gave the invisible hand full play. By the time when he left office, Hong Kong was booming and becoming affluent. Its income per person even exceeded as much as 24% higher than its old motherland, Britain, when it was handed back to China in 1997. (International Monetary Fund, 1999) “Per Capita Gross Domestic Product, Current Prices (U.S. dollars per person)” At times, I think if this man had not been posted to Hong Kong, my father might not had thought about fleeing to Hong Kong from mainland China during the still-chaotic late 70’s – for twice. My dad’s first escape was almost successful, but he was caught by mainland servicemen and was detained for about two weeks. He arrived at Hong Kong safely for the second attempt. Although with only literally a dollar in his pocket, living in a land of opportunities and optimism, he was one of the many newcomers from mainland who strived and become a reasonable middle-class, if not a business tycoon. Main Biography John James Cowperthwaite was born into a family of bureaucrats. He was the eldest child and had a younger brother named

‘I don’t think I’m quite as Austrian as you are,’ a Tory minister said to me the other day. And I knew then that the party is doomed. It wasn’t what he said so much as the way that he said it: in the fond, amused, each-to-his-own tone you might use to dismiss a friend’s enthusiasm for Morris dancing or Napoleonic re-enactment or dogging…

But personally, I think free market economics (of the Austrian or any other classical liberal school) is far too important to be left to wonks, think-tankers and out-there right-wing commentators. So did Margaret Thatcher. ‘Hayek’s powerful Road to Serfdom left a permanent mark on my own political character, making me a long-term optimist for free enterprise and liberty,’ she said. And so did Ronald Reagan. Asked which philosophical thinker or writers had influenced his conduct as a leader, he replied: ‘I have read the economic views of von Mises and Hayek.

Sir John James CowperthwaiteKBECMG (25 April1915 – 21 January2006) was a British civil servant and the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1961 to 1971. His free market policies of positive non-interventionism are widely credited with turning post-war Hong Kong into a thriving global financial center.

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Official Report of Proceedings of the Hong Kong Legislative Council

• I am confident, however old-fashioned this may sound, that funds left in the hands of the public will come into the Exchequer with interest at the time in the future when we need them.
  • February 28, 1962, page 51.

• The fact that previous generations have handed down to us a substantial public heritage by way of roads, port, etc. almost completely free of debt, seems to me to impose some limitation on the validity of the theory that by borrowing we should, or could, pass on the burden of development to the next generation.
  • February 28, 1962, page 55.

• An infant industry, if coddled, tends to remain an infant industry and never grows up or expands.
  • March 30, 1962, page 131.

• Official opposition to overall economic planning and planning controls has been characterized in a recent editorial as "Papa knows best". But it is precisely because Papa does not know best that I believe that Government should not presume to tell any businessman or industrialist what he should or should not do, far less what he may or not do; and no matter how it may be dressed up that is what planning is.
  • March 30, 1962, page 133.

• Over a wide field of our economy it is still the better course to rely on the nineteenth century's "hidden hand" than to thrust clumsy bureaucratic fingers into its sensitive mechanism. In particular, we cannot afford to damage its mainspring, freedom of competitive enterprise.
  • March 30, 1962, page 133.

• One trouble is that when Government gets into a business it tends to make it uneconomic for anyone else.
  • February 27,