In this article, Benjamin Carlson describes the
inequality in Hong Kong, a city that has one of the steepest wealth gaps in
Asia. Since 2001, the city’s Gini coefficient which is a measure of inequality
from 0 to 1, in which a score of one indicates a country where all the income
goes to one person, has risen from 0.525 to 0.537, higher than New York City or
Washington, DC. The middle class has fewer opportunities to become rich in this
system and the rich are often resented. Hong Kong is known for a high rate of
consumption. This city of 7 million owns more Rolls Royces and drinks more
cognac per capita than any place on Earth. It has the world’s most expensive
retail real estate and the highest concentration of luxury stores. And Hong
Kong is consistently ranked as having the “freest” economy in the world, thanks
to its low income taxes and untaxed capital gains.
Inequality
in Hong Kong has become so great that social tensions are rising. Public anger
over unaffordable housing and inequality erupted repeatedly in 2012. In July, there
were up to 400,000 people that took to the streets following the inauguration
of new Chief Executive CY Leung. Between 2001 and 2010, the incomes for Hong
Kong’s top 10 percent grew by 60 percent, while the bottom 10 percent saw their
incomes drop by a fifth.
Over
the last two decades the city’s economy has hollowed out because manufacturers
seeking cheaper labor moved factories across the border into China. Hong Kong’s
population is aging fast. In 2011, the median age of Hong Kong was 41, and more
than 28 percent of households included an elderly person over age 65. Every
public park is filled with elderly retirees playing Chinese chess, or taking
advantage of free seating. Finally, expansion in the city’s high-flying financial
sector has concentrated income gains in the hands of a few high-skilled
workers.
The
biggest factor in inequality is real estate. Hong Kong is the world’s most
expensive place to own a home. Since 2009, housing prices have gone up 85
percent. To buy a one-bedroom, 852-square-foot apartment at The Belcher’s, a
building on the west side of Hong Kong island, costs over $1.5 million. Houses
on Victoria Peak — the tallest mountain on Hong Kong island , start selling at
$20 million or more. In November, a Frank Gehry designed apartment on the peak
sold for an astounding $60 million. For ordinary homes the median home price in
Hong Kong is now nearly 13 times the annual median household income. In the US
that figure is three.
The government of Chief
Executive CY Leung, who took office last summer, has given some poor people
hope by promising to tamp down on the real-estate frenzy, and expand the
availability of public housing. In late 2012, he rolled out a measure intended
to discourage foreign and mainland Chinese buyers of Hong Kong property by
imposing a 15 percent tax on property purchased by non-residents. Many doubt
that Leung will allow prices to fall significantly.
Among the wealthy in Hong
Kong, there’s a feeling that the government is perhaps already giving too much.
There are not enough resources to go around but people who live in Hong Kong
get their health care taken care of if they have a career. The distribution of
wealth creates a problem because many people feel that it needs to be
distributed more evenly. I think that it will be difficult to change Hong
Kong’s system but something needs to be done in order to stop this inequality.
Article Link: http://www.minnpost.com/global-post/2013/04/hong-kongs-surging-real-estate-prices-shed-light-rising-inequality
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