Years ago, I spent some "quality time" in Hong Kong during my travels to Japan. I marveled then to learn that Hong Kong had more millionares per capita than the US even though it had little to know Industrial or Agricultural base (it's a very tiny Island).
Hong Kong may be the only city in the world where you can legitimately use four different currencies to pay for things -- Chinese yuan, Hong Kong dollars, U.S. dollars and now euros.
On my last day there, I unloaded the last of my yuans and HK dollars -- and mixed in some good 'ol American greenbacks for good measure -- to pay for my ride to the airport. The driver cheerfully accepted all of it and
explained to me that in Hong Kong, people will generally accept these currencies -- plus now, the euro.
In Hong Kong, I often heard people use the phrase, "One country, two systems." It describes the odd situation in which Hong Kong finds itself.
Once a British colony and still symbolic of the riches of capitalism and markets, today Hong Kong is part of China, which is, at least nominally, communist.
Hong Kong has among the freest economies in the world, as rated by the Heritage Foundation. The city has inherited a strong legal system, maintains English as the official language and has a rich pool of professional talent with expertise in matters of finance and international trade. No wonder it is an important hub of business activity in the region.
Taxes are low and simple. The corporate tax rate is only 17.5%; the top income tax rate only 15.5%. One of the American expats living here told me it takes 15 minutes to fill out a personal tax return, which is only a
couple of pages long. All capital gains are tax-free. Any personal dividends, bank interest or foreign-sourced income is all tax-free.
As a result of its free market-friendly policies, the city has grown tremendously in importance economically. Hong Kong is the largest recipient of foreign investment in Asia, and it is the largest source of funds for the mainland. It is the world's seventh largest center for foreign exchange trading and the ninth largest stock market.
So as we see low-skill jobs sourced to countries with low-priced unskilled labor, one has to ask:
Do we fight to keep mind-numbing, inury prone and environmentally polluting jobs here in outdated factories for our children to do, or do we take a lesson from Hong Kong and move into the era of high tech and high finance?
Think about it, do you want your son or daughter to go to work in a sweat shop or skyscraper?
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