Sunday, August 14, 2016

Hong Kong & Belt & Road

Islam introduced free markets to the Spanish Scholastics, who passed it on the the French philosophes, and from there to Catholic Scotland, and then assumed by protestant Scotland, and got carried by Scottish managers to the far reaches of the British Empire, most notably Hong Kong and the American Colonies.  Hong Kong kept the faith, largely, whereas USA has only traces of free markets: for in the legal field alone we have bounty hunters, jury nullification, pro se, and attorneys general, all free market elements.  The list of trade residual free market elements would make quite an encyclopedia.

Hong Kong is reltively free market so it knows to discover new markets, not try to go cut rate on known markets.
The interesting aspect of the Belt and Road is that it will create opportunities, which will be different from those that we can take advantage of right now. The winners will be those companies that can recognise these new opportunities and organise themselves to tap into them. You cannot expect that tomorrow will always be like today. You have to be open-minded about how the world may change and how new economic linkages will create new opportunities for you.
Swire is one of those Scottish companies, like HSBC, started in vastly more free trade Hong Kong.
What does it mean specifically for the global transport and logistics industry? The Belt and Road, at its core, is about better, cheaper and faster logistics. It is about building infrastructure and removing barriers to trade, and by doing those two things, creating new trade opportunities.
I love to see free marketers so often unwittingly quote Chairman Mao: More Better Cheaper Faster.


Only free markets can provide what both communists and capitalists claim they want.
A significant component of our portfolio of businesses is involved in transport and logistics. We have the airlines – Cathay Pacific was the world’s largest air cargo airline a few years ago. We are involved in shipping in the Asian region, specifically between China, Hong Kong and some of the Belt and Road countries. We are also involved in other infrastructure-related sectors such as cold-chain logistics, so we think there is ample opportunity for us.
Yes, cold chain logistics is an untapped potential, and unseen.  USAs policy of get big or get out in agriculture kept this option from becoming manifest in LCL fresh exports from USA.    Some agents have managed work-arounds, but not yet for the small seller exporting direct.  A wide open business for anyone who can manage it.

And Hong Kong can win this game because it's relatively free market, and so desirable a place to live, they have excess management supply, so management is less expensive in Hong Kong.

Where Hong Kong can carve itself a space, among other things, would be as a great University center.

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