OpinionNo open and shut case on wishing away government

It is tempting, perhaps irresistibly so, to celebrate the government shutdown in the United States as a result of the budget impasse. Business people are supposed to be in the forefront of those welcoming a shutdown on the clichéd grounds of "it's time to get government off the back of business"; but it's not that simple.

Indeed in their heart of hearts, even the most fervent free market advocates understand that money needs to be spent on government and that regulation of business is necessary to provide an overall framework for conducting economic activity.

The problem is that down at ground level this sensible macrovision is greatly obscured by the way that government officials go about their work.

Here in Hong Kong, often held up as a poster boy by free market idealists, there is a massive bureaucracy with extensive powers over even the minutest aspects of business.

As I operate companies in what is probably the most extensively regulated sector of enterprise - the food business - I am acutely aware of this level of bureaucratic control and let me tell you, it ain't pretty.

First, I am always struck by the sheer numbers of bureaucrats allocated to any given task. If you go to meetings with officials you will generally find that for every one person attending from the business side of things there are at least two bureaucrats.