The architects of the currency peg were aware that it would be impossible for Hong Kong to allow the free movement of capital while at the same time operating both a fixed exchange rate and an independent monetary policy. Photo: Roy Issa The architects of the currency peg were aware that it would be impossible for Hong Kong to allow the free movement of capital while at the same time operating both a fixed exchange rate and an independent monetary policy. Photo: Roy Issa
The architects of the currency peg were aware that it would be impossible for Hong Kong to allow the free movement of capital while at the same time operating both a fixed exchange rate and an independent monetary policy. Photo: Roy Issa
Tom Holland
Opinion

Opinion

Abacus by Tom Holland

Hong Kong’s currency peg to the US dollar isn’t an Achilles’ heel – it’s an Achilles’ shield

  • The peg, which prevented a complete economic wipeout in 1983, has been described as a ‘deadly weakness’
  • But in truth it is an automatically self-correcting mechanism that today’s Hongkongers can be thankful for, writes Tom Holland

Tom Holland
Tom Holland

Updated: 7:25am, 26 Aug, 2019

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The architects of the currency peg were aware that it would be impossible for Hong Kong to allow the free movement of capital while at the same time operating both a fixed exchange rate and an independent monetary policy. Photo: Roy Issa The architects of the currency peg were aware that it would be impossible for Hong Kong to allow the free movement of capital while at the same time operating both a fixed exchange rate and an independent monetary policy. Photo: Roy Issa
The architects of the currency peg were aware that it would be impossible for Hong Kong to allow the free movement of capital while at the same time operating both a fixed exchange rate and an independent monetary policy. Photo: Roy Issa
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Tom Holland

Tom Holland

Tom Holland is a former SCMP staffer who has been writing about Asian affairs for more than 25 years