Few in Hong Kong or China know of Steve Bannon, President Trump's former top political advisor. Mr. Bannon came through Hong Kong this week, and while exceedingly polite, made an argument that folks in China might find interesting, the idea of 'economic nationalism'.

Bannon, a China skeptic, is no friend of the current regime in China. He thinks China is a clear and present danger in its backing of North Korea, has exploited its trading relationship with the United States, and is the number one military and intelligence foe of the US. Yet, Bannon is also a friend of democracy, and thinks the Chinese people don't need the threat of jail to reach productive political outcomes.

This is where it gets interesting.

Authoritarian China is corrupt, opaque, lawless, with elites and their money fleeing as fast as they can to the United States. There's a strong argument that a closed and unfree China actually works for US economic interests. We get cheap goods. We cherry pick their best talent. And money that once went offshore now returns to the US as Chinese seek a safe haven. President Xi's crackdown on Chinese investment abroad is an admission globalisation is now biting back on China.

Now I am not a fan of the remedies that economic nationalism offers, yet I don't discount the folks who have lost due to globalisation. After nearly 40 years of an open China the losers are mounting, from displaced SOE workers to Hong Konger's priced out of home ownership.

Bannon's 'economic nationalism' can be summed up as the interests of the people over the those of the global elites. It's a powerful political message that has resonance from Brexit to Trump. What Chinese might ask, is with China now the darling of the global elite, might it be time for a dose of 'economic nationalism' in China.