Why is Hong Kong, a city in Red China, the freest city in the world?

[sevin]

http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking.aspx

If the Chinese believe in communism, then why do they allow laissez-faire capitalism in Hong Kong? Also, Hong Kong is amazingly prosperous. So much so that it is obvious unfettered capitalism works! Why not let the rest of the country try it? And why hasn't the rest of the world noticed the example set by Hong Kong?

Are the Chinese just using Hong Kong as a sort of engine? I think I just blew my mind . . .

[Kotin]

maybe they want both communism and capitalism..

[fletcher]

Hong Kong was a British territory until 1997. Then it became a Special Administrative Region (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Administrative_Region_of_the_People%27s_Re public_of_China). It has a completely different political and economic system than China.

[nate895]

As per the agreement where Britain relinquished sovereignty, Hong Kong was to remain capitalist and self governing (I believe) for at least 50 years.

[danberkeley]

http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking.aspx

If the Chinese believe in communism,


They don't.


then why do they allow laissez-faire capitalism in Hong Kong?
Becuase they are not commies.


Also, Hong Kong is amazingly prosperous. So much so that it is obvious unfettered capitalism works! Why not let the rest of the country try it?

China has a stock market now.


And why hasn't the rest of the world noticed the example set by Hong Kong?

Many reasons.


Are the Chinese just using Hong Kong as a sort of engine? I think I just blew my mind . . .

Somewhat

[Paulitician]

It's not the freest generally in the world, mostly just economically

[jcarcinogen]

Our world has perverted the word 'free' and we need to fix that.

[ShannonOBrien]

I can't remember where I heard it, but someone once said that the Chinese government wants just enough capitalism to keep the money flowing to fund their bureaucratic, communist crap. It gets expensive, you know...

[trey4sports]

China has some qualites of capitalism.
They certainly save alot more than they spend.
China has a welfare state yet allows for private business which mass produces for America

[angelatc]

They don't.


Becuase they are not commies.





Yes they are. The Communist Party of China is the ruling political party of China and it is also the world's largest political party.

The communists have mimicked capitalism in their economic reforms order to generate income, but it is very much a one-party, authoritarian system with incomplete control.

The state still owns all the land.

[gilliganscorner]

Make no mistake: Chinese are the greatest capitalists in the world. They have learned to navigate millenniums of tyrannical government, take risks to make themselves ancestors to their clans - the highest honour that can be bestowed, distrust the State implicitly and pursue fortune and fame as a culture - gambling is huge, the entrepreneurial spirit alive and kicking. Take a look at your local Chinatown. It is teeming with free market activity above and below the surface. They know their government and media is bullshit, unlike the sheeple here who believe it all.

Communism is a ruse. They are economically at war with the rest of the world, have a currency that is manipulated downward to keep exports up and imports down. They have sucked a great deal of productive capacity out of the rest of the world. Culminating that being the most populous nation in the world keeps labour down. In other words, they have conscripted their entire population into their economic army. They are buying up hard assets where they can find them at a very high rate. We buy the shit they make, but they don't buy the shit we make.

They are taking on the world...all without firing a single shot. Clever, no? They don't call themselves the "Middle Kingdom" for nothing. Halfway between heaven and the rest of the world.

We could learn a great deal from them.

[acptulsa]

The Chinese have discovered what we have forgotten: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Now we are in trouble.

[danberkeley]

Yes they are. The Communist Party of China is the ruling political party of China and it is also the world's largest political party.

The communists have mimicked capitalism in their economic reforms order to generate income, but it is very much a one-party, authoritarian system with incomplete control.

The state still owns all the land.

I meant the people of China who live and work there. They are as capitalist as can be. The government, however, is Commie but no one listens to them. Of course, I am oversimplifying things.

[ihsv]

Can Hong Kong residents own guns?

[amy31416]

For those who think China is immune to this economic crises, you might want to read this.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article5627687.ece

[mrkurtz]

Communism is a ruse. They are economically at war with the rest of the world, have a currency that is manipulated downward to keep exports up and imports down. They have sucked a great deal of productive capacity out of the rest of the world. Culminating that being the most populous nation in the world keeps labour down. In other words, they have conscripted their entire population into their economic army. They are buying up hard assets where they can find them at a very high rate.

Excellent post!

I've been trying to tell people this for years now...

To equate Marxist/Brezhnevist communism to Chinese Communism is at best a glib assessment. The Chinese have set up the perfect counter to the United States' nature of debt and extreme consumerism. We very gladly walked right into their economic strategy.

But then again, America is now starting its counter to the Chinese strategy: economic depression.

[Blowback]

Yes they are. The Communist Party of China is the ruling political party of China and it is also the world's largest political party.

The communists have mimicked capitalism in their economic reforms order to generate income, but it is very much a one-party, authoritarian system with incomplete control.

The state still owns all the land.

You'll find out who really owns all the land in the good old USA if you don't pay your taxes or if the central planners decide that a highway would look good where you are at. Or hell, if they just don't like you that much and decide to say you're a terrorist. We are basically all just renters.

[gilliganscorner]

You'll find out who really owns all the land in the good old USA if you don't pay your taxes or if the central planners decide that a highway would look good where you are at. Or hell, if they just don't like you that much and decide to say you're a terrorist. We are basically all just renters.


Ding ding! We have a winner! If you defined "Communism" by the 10 planks outlined by Marx and Engels, the US is a communist country (http://fskrealityguide.blogspot.com/2007/06/communist-manifestos-successful.html). As is Canada. (http://gilliganscorner.wordpress.com/2008/02/25/papers-please-has-communism-been-implemented-in-the-canada/).

As are all modern "democracies".