The Wiki Man

15 August 2009

A fortnightly column on technology and the web

Not everyone at TED agreed. The more tree-hugging element didn’t like the idea of creating more cities as it presumably conflicted with their vision of a future spent living in hessian sacks. But I loved it. It reminded me of that time during the Falklands war when leftists asked, ‘How would you feel if the Isle of Wight was run by Argentina?’, and the rest of us were thinking that if one could enjoy a 50p steak and tango dancing on Ryde Pier we’d finally have a reason to go there. The establishment of ‘bridgehead’ city-states could do wonders for variety and choice; someone could even establish a small capitalist exclave in Scotland.

It’s fair to point out (which, in our conversation, Professor Romer did) that the conditions established in Hong Kong and Singapore may not be easy to reproduce. Both arose in that wonderful period where the world was more likely to be run by classical scholars than accountants. Anyone today trapped in the target-riddled bureaucracies of the BBC, the civil service, the NHS or any plc can only dream of rule by Hong Kong’s Sir John Cowperthwaite, who ‘refused to allow the collection of economic statistics for fear it would encourage officials to meddle in the economy’. His policy of positive non-interventionism was similar to that of the pre-war comedian (Max Miller? Tommy Trinder?) who, when standing on the terraces at football matches, yelled at players to ‘use your own judgment’.

I urge you to watch Paul Romer’s talk in full. And to spread the idea widely. It’s at http://snipurl.com/romer

Rory Sutherland is vice-chairman of Ogilvy Group UK.