Britannia Radio

A half-century ago, the United Kingdom put Sir John in charge

of Hong Kong.

He found Hong Kong did well without government help.

People need to be free to soar… and free to fall on their faces.

Falling down

occasionally and getting back up again is part of being human.

It just so happens that what is true for one man is true for all

men… as Sir John Cowperthwaite of Scotland discovered.

A half-century ago, the United Kingdom put Sir John in charge

of Hong Kong.

He found Hong Kong did well without government help.

Legend has it, he even refused to collect economic statistics for

fear the Brits would use them to determine what part of Hong

Kong's society to "help."

Hong Kong went from "a barren rock" to wealthier than Britain

(per capita) by 1992.

Sir John's secret? Do nothing…

He spent a good portion of his time preventing British political "busybodies"

from meddling in Hong Kong. He kept rules and regulations to a minimum.

Your actions had potential rewards and potential consequences, as it should

be.

Tax rates in Hong Kong are among the lowest in the world. (The top rate is

15% on businesses and 16.5% on individuals, I believe.) There's hardly any

social safety net by Western standards. But you know what? The unemployment

rate is almost always low. It's currently 3.5%.

Lake Lure has chosen the opposite path of Hong Kong. It's set up tons of rules.

It's protecting people from themselves. And then it pays government people

to enforce all the rules. How's that working out? North Carolina has a state

income tax of more than 7% – beyond federal income taxes. The unemployment

rate in Lake Lure is 16.6% (the most recent figure I could find).

North Carolina could learn a thing or two from Sir John Cowperthwaite.

Sir John knew fewer rules and less government intervention leads to fantastic

prosperity over time. He learned it's incredibly difficult to maintain

DOING NOTHING politically… keeping your hands off. But he proved it works.

ot only could North Carolina learn a thing or two from Sir John Cowperthwaite