John James Cowperthwaite

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Sir John James Cowperthwaite KBE CMG 郭伯偉爵士, April 25, 1915 – January 21, 2006) was Financial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1961 to 1971. His introduction of free market economic policies were widely credited with turning postwar Hong Kong into a thriving global financial centre.

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[edit] Early years

Cowperthwaite attended Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh, Scotland and later studied economics at St Andrews University and Christ's College, Cambridge. He joined the British Colonial Administrative service in Hong Kong in 1941, but left briefly during World War II to a posting in Sierra Leone.

[edit] Hong Kong

He returned to Hong Kong in 1945 and continued to rise through the ranks. He was asked to find ways in which the government could boost post-war economic outlook, but he found the economy was recovering swiftly without any government intervention. He took the lesson to heart, and positive non-interventionism became the focus of his economic policy as Financial Secretary.

He was appointed as Officer of the British Empire in 1960, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1964, and knighted in 1968.

[edit] Post–civil service career

After leaving his retirement, Cowperthwaite was international adviser to Jardine Fleming, the Hong Kong–based investment bank until 1981. He retired and left Hong Kong for St Andrews, Scotland and became a member of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.

Married to Sheila Thomson in 1941, they had one son. His son predeceased him.

Cowperthwaite died in Scotland on January 21, 2006. Aged 90.

[edit] References


Preceded by:
Arthur Grenfell Clarke		 Financial Secretary of Hong Kong
1961-1971		 Succeeded by:
Sir Charles Philip Haddon-Cave
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