# John Cowperthwaite Back to [[Economic Freedom and Prosperity]] · [[Case Studies/Hong Kong]] **Role:** Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, 1961–71 - Scottish civil servant (1915–2006) ◻. Arrived in Hong Kong in 1945 and was Financial Secretary from 1961 to 1971 ◻. - Associated with low, simple taxes, budget surpluses and refusal to pick industries. Called his approach "positive non-interventionism" ⚠️ (the label is more often credited to his successor, Haddon-Cave). - Known for refusing to collect detailed economic statistics, on the view that officials would use them to intervene. The story is told in Milton Friedman's memoir ◻. - The post's "Hong Kong" paragraph is essentially his record. His tenure also included the expansion of public housing and land-lease revenue, which the post leaves out (see the case study). Key: ✔ confirmed this session · ◻ standard knowledge, not opened this session · ⚠️ unconfirmed.