1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910817125703321

Autore

Goodstadt Leo F.

Titolo

Poverty in the midst of affluence : how Hong Kong mismanaged its prosperity / / Leo F. Goodstadt

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Hong Kong : , : HKU Press, , [2014]

©2014

ISBN

988-8313-09-6

Edizione

[Revised edition.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (281 p.)

Disciplina

330.95125

Soggetti

Poverty - China - Hong Kong

Cost and standard of living - China - Hong Kong

Hong Kong (China) Economic conditions

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Preface -- Introduction : pain, panic and poverty -- Crisis economics : private profits, public pain -- The business of government : less politics, no welfare -- Housing : unending crisis -- Social reforms : too little, too late -- Social reforms : the new poverty -- The undeserving poor -- An absence of advocates : how the 'welfare' lobby lost its voice -- Conclusions : history repeats itself.

Sommario/riassunto

Hong Kong is among the richest cities in the world. Yet over the past 15 years, living conditions for the average family have deteriorated. 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. 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.