Anthony checks in on bad press for free market Hong Kong... the problem in the first story is not Hong Kong freedom, but China constraint. Instead of enlarging Hong Kong to enable more people to thrive, the WSJ wonders why there is not more land development in Hong Kong.
The best way to make housing more affordable, say some analysts, is to increase the land supply designated for housing. Less than 7% of Hong Kong's land is designated for residential use, according to official data. Woodlands, grasslands and wetlands constitute 67% of the city's 1,108 square kilometers.
Why? a green hong Kong is lovely. Why change that? And as author Alice Poon notes in the article:
The government has restricted land use to keep prices high so that it can collect more revenue when it sells tracts, said Alice Poon, a former executive at a Hong Kong real estate developer and author of "Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong." The government's "over-reliance on land-sale revenue for its fiscal health is the root problem of its land and housing policies," she said.
I've noted this strange circumstance here before here and here and more. As to the author of the book, I've objected to Ms. Poon that her book is hard to get. I await a reply.
Next Anthony shares with me the story of men living in Chicken coops in Hong Kong. Here in Seattle we have people living in worse.
"It's not whether I believe him or not, but they always talk this way. What hope is there?" said Leung, who has been living in cage homes since he stopped working at a market stall after losing part of a finger 20 years ago. He hasn't applied for public housing because he doesn't want to leave his roommates to live alone and expects to spend the rest of his life living in a cage.
Which is exactly the story of the street people in Seattle, who actually do have homes, but according to a Seattle Police officer intimate with the street people's lives, they prefer the street.
"It's impossible for me to save," said Leung, who never married and has no children to lean on for support.
Yes, to never marry and have no children makes for a more fun and carefree life, but it also makes for foreseeable problems. To reward people today who partied away their productive years sends the wrong message today, n'est-ce pas?
Yes, for an anarchist Hong Kong is the best example and also perplexing. No free market in real estate, but land distribution superior to anywhere else. Maybe it is just it is so bad everywhere else...
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
The best way to make housing more affordable, say some analysts, is to increase the land supply designated for housing. Less than 7% of Hong Kong's land is designated for residential use, according to official data. Woodlands, grasslands and wetlands constitute 67% of the city's 1,108 square kilometers.
Why? a green hong Kong is lovely. Why change that? And as author Alice Poon notes in the article:
The government has restricted land use to keep prices high so that it can collect more revenue when it sells tracts, said Alice Poon, a former executive at a Hong Kong real estate developer and author of "Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong." The government's "over-reliance on land-sale revenue for its fiscal health is the root problem of its land and housing policies," she said.
I've noted this strange circumstance here before here and here and more. As to the author of the book, I've objected to Ms. Poon that her book is hard to get. I await a reply.
Next Anthony shares with me the story of men living in Chicken coops in Hong Kong. Here in Seattle we have people living in worse.
"It's not whether I believe him or not, but they always talk this way. What hope is there?" said Leung, who has been living in cage homes since he stopped working at a market stall after losing part of a finger 20 years ago. He hasn't applied for public housing because he doesn't want to leave his roommates to live alone and expects to spend the rest of his life living in a cage.
Which is exactly the story of the street people in Seattle, who actually do have homes, but according to a Seattle Police officer intimate with the street people's lives, they prefer the street.
"It's impossible for me to save," said Leung, who never married and has no children to lean on for support.
Yes, to never marry and have no children makes for a more fun and carefree life, but it also makes for foreseeable problems. To reward people today who partied away their productive years sends the wrong message today, n'est-ce pas?
Yes, for an anarchist Hong Kong is the best example and also perplexing. No free market in real estate, but land distribution superior to anywhere else. Maybe it is just it is so bad everywhere else...
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
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