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It is true that, more often than not, we come to the conclusion that the balance of advantage lies in not intervening; and, I must confess, I would be alarmed if we didn’t. Yet, in all cases, the decision is made positively, and not by default, and it is not the non-outcome of a do-nothing approach. But, there are many examples of the Government deciding, usually on the advice of its boards and committees, to intervene, in one way or another, in the free play of market forces.” Indeed there are many examples of intervention. We built the airport because, without government intervention, it would simply not have been economically viable. We built roads and bridges. We provided public housing, medical services, the list is long. But we tend to do less than other jurisdictions and so the size of our public sector in relation to gross domestic product is one of the smallest in the world. Specifically in the monetary and financial systems, there is significant intervention in the form of the regulation of financial markets and the supervision of financial institutions. This is precisely because we feel that, in the words of Sir Philip, ‘the balance of advantage’ lies in so intervening and because ‘imperfections in the operation of the market mechanism [may lead] to economic inefficiency’. In very much the same spirit, we intervened in 1996 and built a real time payment system because the private sector was not able to come up with this highly desirable piece of financial infrastructure.