The View | Hong Kong’s property cartel is pushing wealth inequality to the brink
Raising welfare and pension payments, and reforming the MPF isn’t going to solve the main problem – a persistent property bubble sustained by a cartel
When a Hong Kong government cabinet secretary mocks my ideas on how to reduce poverty and improve equality on a television show it is worth examining whose version of economic reality we are living in.
I recently participated in a Channel News Asia panel interview about economic inequality in Hong Kong with Dr Law Chi-Kwong, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, and three other guests.
All the panellists agreed that Hong Kong is very market-driven. But in residential property, market failure, artificial squeezes on apartment sales and land banking have distorted and pushed pricing for such a long period that society faces a breaking point.
Yet bureaucrats refuse to recognise the need for change.
Secretary Law’s eyes rolled back in scepticism as I asked why the government can’t control how local developers sell flats
Dr Law believes minor improvements in social welfare schemes, old age pensions and the Mandatory Provident Funds scheme will significantly alleviate the inequality issues facing the city. This shows he and his colleagues are woefully detached from the perils facing Hong Kong. Their “solution” is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the sinking Titanic. Social unrest and economic stagnation are lurking just below the surface.