Poverty in the Midst of Affluence: How Hong Kong Mismanaged Its Prosperity - Softcover

Goodstadt, Leo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9888208225 ISBN 13: 9789888208227

Publisher: Hong Kong University Press, 2015

Synopsis

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 labour 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, and not the result of economic crises. This provocative book will be essential reading for anyone wishing to understand why poverty returned to Hong Kong in this century. The book has been thoroughly revised and updated for this new, paperback edition.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Politics/Social Science

About the Author:

Leo F. Goodstadt is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Hong Kong and was Head of the Hong Kong government’s Central Policy Unit from 1989 to 1997.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hong Kong University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 9888208225
• ISBN 13: 9789888208227
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288