Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman, who once lauded Hong Kong as the perfect model of a free-market economy, said he was disappointed - though not surprised - to see the city had moved away from a laissez-faire economic policy.
The 94-year-old senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution also called it a 'mistake' for the Hong Kong government to shift from the policy of 'positive non-interventionism' to a policy of 'big market, small government'.
'Those four words are fine, but it all depends on what you fill them with.'
Dr Friedman was responding to questions from the South China Morning Post about Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's remarks on September 11, saying that 'positive non-interventionism' was no longer the blueprint for Hong Kong's economic policy.
In an article published on September 19, Mr Tsang expanded on his position, saying 'positive non-interventionism' had been ambiguous from the outset. He also cited different labels for the city's economic principles by various financial secretaries, stressing: 'But we have never deviated from our long-cherished, free-market philosophy.'
Dr Friedman noted there had been strong pressure in Hong Kong to move away from positive non-interventionism since China's resumption of sovereignty.