So perhaps we played a part in turning around the sentiment of international finance last year. BIS Review 120/1999  2  And let me say this also: knowing well my close colleagues who fought this battle together with me, it would, I think, be difficult to find stronger believers in the free market than those of us in the Hong Kong Administration. A few names will, of course, spring to your mind immediately, but my response is that we work in the real world and not in ivory towers. The fact of the matter is that free markets can sometimes fail. Free markets can sometimes behave in a manner very much against the long-term interests of society. When this occurs, if those of us in the Administration hide conveniently behind the banner of free markets and do nothing, we are failing in our duties. And to those who accuse us of betraying the philosophy of positive non-interventionism, let me ask this question: why do you think Sir Philip Haddon-Cave used the word “positive” when he coined the phrase? International finance But perhaps enough has already been said on that subject. Let me now move to the longer-term structural issues of concern to our monetary and financial systems. As I said earlier, we need to ensure that we come out of the crisis stronger rather than weaker. We need to identify structural defects, if any, and address ways of correcting them, not necessarily limiting ourselves to our own systems, given the globalisation of financial markets.
I hope that this will be a successful conference and all of you will have a fruitful and productive discussion. 9. Thank you very much. 2/2  BIS central bankers' speeches