>I need more information about exactly how the market in land works. I
>suspect that even if all land is formally owned by the state, some features
>of the market, are equivalents to capitalist procedures in states where
>there is private property in land. Perhaps Michael knows with real estate
>moguls, where their wealth lies.
Chris,
I'm not an expert of land issues, but according to what I understand the situation is not that different from other common law jurisdictions: the ultimate ownership of the land was vested in the Crown and, now, it is in the state. The only substantial difference with other ex British colonies (such as, e.g., Singapore) is that here in HK freehold status has never been granted: probably because the place was to be given back to China. However, please note that even freehold does not mean "ownership": it is only a concession that can be overridden by other considerations, such as the need of building a new road or other public facilities. Naturally, in those cases compensations apply, even though their level is (predictably enough) matter of long controversies. In HK, developers typically bid for land leases in public auctions, which provide a substantial share of the government revenues. Anybody can bid: last year a woman screwed up an auction outbidding all the other amazed participants with offers for several billions, before it was finally discovered that she had no money at all, but, instead, a clinical history of mental problems...
Cheers --
Enzo