“What mystifies me is how he or any one else can determine what is a desirable type of industry such as should qualify for special assistance of this kind. In my own simple way I should have thought that a desirable industry was, almost by definition, one which could establish itself and thrive without special assistance in ordinary market conditions. Anything else suggests a degree of omniscience which I, at least, am not prepared to credit even the most expert with. I trust the commercial judgment only of those who are themselves taking the risks.”

— John James Cowperthwaite

March 27, 1968, page 212.
Official Report of Proceedings of the Hong Kong Legislative Council

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John James Cowperthwaite 38

British colonial administrator 1915–2006

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John James Cowperthwaite 38

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