> (btw: the Chinese characters for Hong Kong mean
>Fragant Harbor - pronounced Heung Gong, the 'eu' resembling the
>syllable in French - an apparent reference to the area's one
>natural blessing that long ago lost any pleasant aroma that
>might have spawned the name, pollution having turned the deep
>blue water into brown sewage, the flotsam of industrial society)...
Eh, come on, the situation isn't that grim: I can confirm that the sea is still blue (see photo from my window at http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Park/8883/dayhk.jpg ). Perhaps you confuse it with Macau, but there the brown colour is due to the soil suspended in the waters of the Pearl River.
>because the gov't land policy is used to raise revenue, it is
>taxation in the form of higher property prices and rents...
That's not a tax: if you resell your home, you get the money back (sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on the market). Try this with true taxes like VAT or income tax... Frankly speaking, from my libertarian point of view, land-related fees are one of the few revenues for the government that I consider acceptable and justified: they are taken as counterpart of goods or services that the government actually provides to those who pay.
>the
>social & financial burdens of a high land price policy include
>declining home ownership opportunities, increasing cost of
>living, and growing wealth disparity...re: the latter, gov't
>land policy makes for an alliance between developers and banks
>who have an interest in keeping rices as high as possible...
Half of the citizens live in public housing, and the rest largely own their flats: ever wondered why the real estate agents publish "for rent" notices in English, and "for sale" in Chinese? It's mostly expats that keep whining about the high rents (often with racist overtones about bloodsucking local landlords). But as they say, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Cheers --
Enzo
