Hong Kong passed test

[Chris Burford]

Monday was a holiday for the Stock Exchange in Hong Kong. No doubt this was
part of the plan of the government authorities, who, exceptionally had
intervened last week to punish hedge fund speculators who has been using an
ingenious scheme about the interrelation of the exchange rate, interest
rate, and certain types of stock (I do not fully understand the details of
the latter).

The test was Tuesday. Did anyone hear any bad news? I heard none. Yesterday
the Exchange went up 5%, this morning it is up 2%. There seems to be no
talk of its credibility having been shattered and the Hong Kong dollar
being the next to go after the rouble. Martin Lee has lost face relative to
the government of Hong Kong.

Once again I maintain, having no national debt, and no private ownership of
land, does not damage the survival chances of a capitalist economy even in
these turbulent neo-liberal times.

Chris Burford