If only a few more senior government officials would adopt the practice of monetary chief Joseph Yam Chi-kwong in writing a weekly column on his Web site the discussion of public policy would be enormously improved.
But then, of course, they would also invite more counter-argument from other columnists.
In his latest offering, Mr Yam once again raises the question of whether we need more protection for bank customers in an environment where bank services have become more complicated and banks are, for the first time, to charge fees for some services.
It is an entirely legitimate question of public interest but Mr Yam makes two assertions that I would rather not see go uncontested.
In the first he points out that bank customers have benefited from greater competition among banks to the extent of mortgage rates that have now fallen well below the best lending rate.
He then says: 'This is good for consumers but not so welcome to the banks, which have seen their margins squeezed. It is understandable that, under such a competitive environment, banks would consider charging, or increasing the fees and charges, for their services so as to reflect better the costs in the provision of such services.'
This, however, is not why banks want to impose fees and charges. In fact, their margins have not really been squeezed so badly at all. Let's remember that they have also dropped deposit rates recently.