Poverty in the midst of affluence : how Hong Kong mismanaged its prosperity /
How Hong Kong mismanaged its prosperity
Leo F. Goodstadt.
- Hong Kong : Hong Kong University Press, (c)2013.
- 1 online resource (x, 264 pages)
Includes bibliographies and index.
Preface -- Introduction : pain, panic and poverty -- Crisis economics : private profits, public pain -- The business of government : less politics, no welfare -- Housing: unending crisis -- Social reforms : too little, too late -- Social reforms : the new poverty -- The undeserving poor -- An absence of advocates : how the 'welfare' lobby -- Lost its voice -- Conclusions : history repeats itself -- Bibliography -- Index.
Hong Kong is among the richest cities in the world. Yet over the past 15 years living conditions for the average family have deteriorated despite a robust economy, ample budget surpluses and record labor productivity. Successive governments have been reluctant to invest in services for the elderly, the disabled, the long-term sick, and the poor, while education has become more elitist. The political system has helped to entrench a mistaken consensus that social spending is a threat to financial stability and economic prosperity. In this trenchant attack on government mismanagement, Leo Goodstadt traces how officials have created a "new poverty" in Hong Kong and argues that their misguided policies are both a legacy of the colonial era and a deliberate choice by modern governments --
9789888180936 9888180932
Poverty--China--Hong Kong. Cost and standard of living--China--Hong Kong. Hong Kong--Constitutional law. Hong Kong--Foreign relations--China. Hong Kong--Politics and government.