Lion Rock in 2011 Property Rights Index

"Now that the correlation between economic well-being and property rights has been established, it is imperative to continue improving property rights on a global level."

-Hernando de Soto

Lion Rock featured in the 2011 Property Rights Report

The 2011 International Property Rights Index (IPRI) is an international comparative study that measures the significance of both physical and intellectual property rights and their protection for economic well-being.

The Lion Rock Institute’s Research Associate, Nicole Alpert, authors one of the case studies featured in the report, “Hong Kong: Sidestepping Property Rights in Preservation,” and details the current raggle-taggle heritage strategy:

In essence, a proposed monument allows the government to hold private property hostage, regardless of heritage value, eventually forcing private sector participation in the charade that is heritage conservation.

 The Index focuses on three areas: Legal and Political Environment (LP), Physical Property Rights (PPR), and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in order to incorporate and grasp the important aspects related to property rights protection.

Hong Kong's Rank
World Rank: 13 Regional Rank: 4

IPRI in Hong Kong rose to its highest level since the index began, indicating an interest in improvement and that more can be done. Judicial Independence rose 0.4 points, making up for declines in the three other variables. Protection of Physical Property and Registering Property both saw modest gains.
The increase in Copyright Piracy was reflected in the improving professional opinions about Hong Kong’s protection of intellectual property. The result is a 0.8 increase in IPR. Germany ties Hong Kong in its World Rank.

Interesting US and UK news in the past few days:

Local Liberty Dollar 'architect' Bernard von NotHaus convicted
The former head of an Evansville-based company that tried to introduce a currency that competed with the U.S. dollar has been found guilty of federal charges in the US.

UK home buyers offered cash splash to enter market
Echoing the housing boom in the run up to the credit crisis, first-home buyers in parts of Britain are offered deposits of as much as 70,000 pounds ($113,000) to help them get on the property ladder. All a little strange considering budget cuts and the recent crisis.

41.8% of reduction in jobs since 2006 in US due to min wage increases

Political Calculations this week takes a look at the US Federal minimum wage and job losses among those making that and below. They reason that, given the employment figures below:

2006: avg employed members of the civilian labor force: 144,427,000
2010: avg employed members of the civilian labor force: 139,064,000 (5,363,000 less)

...in percentage terms of the change in total employment level from 2006 to 2010, jobs affected by the federal minimum wage hikes of 2007, 2008 and 2009 account for 41.8% of the total reduction in jobs seen since 2006.

Lion Rock Newsletter

Lion Rock's Newsletter

The budget has been announced on Feb 23. Many members of the Legislative Council were very dissatisfied, as well as Hong Kong Residences. Because of the reaction, an amendment was announced last week. The Lion Rock Institute welcome the Tax Refund, but not the $6000 handout to every adult Hong Konger, even the details has yet been confirmed. This will surely destroy the principle of financial management of Hong Kong Government. Also an awful precedent to Hong Kong, benefit to those who complain the most!

During the protest on Mar 6th. There was a young boy, asking for handout to the children too, in front of the camera. The Lion Rock Institute is very worried that the society has forget about the founding principle of Hong Kong, more to those who work harder (多勞多得). We hope that this young boy, is only an exceptional case in thousands of Hong Kong Children.Link

There's more - click here to read the web version

Healthcare fail...Foot slimming operation for designer shoes...

The strange places healthcare can go wrong.

Lust For Designer Heels Drives Woman To Get Unnecessary Foot-Slimming Operation

At age 20 Hannah Bailey got a painful,$8,000 foot operation paid for by Britain's Ntaional Health Service because she was in excruciating pain — if you count the psychological trauma of not being able to fit into designer shoes as "pain," which no sane person would. The Daily Mail reports that Bailey, who is now 23, recently admitted that she lied to her doctor to get a free operation.

US v HK

The US House passed emergency short-term legislation which cuts spending by US$4 billion (HK$31.2 billion), which will be followed with another bill to set spending levels through end of the current budget year. Meantime, the Hong Kong Government, on the recent HK$6000 return to perm residents 18+ exceeds the initial HK$24 billion cost projection, and now amounts to HK$40 billion (US5.1 billion).

Hong Kong, no doubt, is in an enviable position. In 2008, Hong Kong's fiscal savings to GDP was over 50 percent, and this year, it's over 70%. Normally, the suggested level is 30 - 50 % GDP, but we're going for teacher's pet. Let's break down all the billions.

Capital Investment Fund  - HK$516.7 billion
Exchange Fund - HK$592.2 billion,
Statutory Bodies - HK$76.6 billion
Loan Fund  - HK$18.5 billion
SFC - HK$6.7 billion
More to be added later - yes - there's still more.

But for all of that, the city still inherits the Fed's fiscal policy, inappropriate for local conditions. The Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the USD which continues to hold less of a likeness to the Hong Kong economy. The weak USD and QE fuels Hong Kong's inflaton and property prices, as does investments coming in from China.

Tsang warned of the tightening of both these leaky faucets when he was defending his previous budget (not the new budget a la populistemode). Although Tsang alluded to protecting residents from inflation by not releasing cash, he made an about turn one week later. Let's see what the fallout will be (not speaking of  the Government's opinion ratings and the changes in society to Government's already weak stance).

Whatever it is, it should not amount to much. The most expansionary budget in years, these handouts will hardly affect Hong Kong's inflation, which as mentioned above, is not based on internal factors. Food prices will continue to go up, other jurisdictions CPIs will continue to trend that way, and a strong yuan and weak USD are the main causes of Hong Kong's inflationary pressure. Estimates are that at least half of the handout will be saved anyway.

Even though economists are saying its nothing more than a drop in the bucket, these handouts are like little drops of poison in the way they are changing residents expectations. More on this later...

How do you spend $6000?

People are already talking about how to spend the handout. There's no going back now, handouts have become the norm and will be expected...What can the Gov do now but keep on giving? If the politicians just held out a bit longer, perhaps the public could have got a bit more given how spineless this is looking. The massive redistribution of wealth will be covered later, but you have to be amazed at how quickly this turn around was!

Are they so worried about protests? And, how long will 6K make Hong Kong people happy for, before they start noticing the same problems getting worse? By the looks of today's facebook and twitter posts, people are very happy and have forgotten how ill-conceived this has been from the very beginning.

All focus on happiness on future prospects and spending so far (until the technicalities of dishing out the 6K is met) except for the small group of non-residents who I hear are thinking about staging protests until they get $6K too.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Some want to take vacations, and already there are some groups dedicated to charity, http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/home.php?sk=group_193789920643573&notif_t=group_added_to_group 

(LRI wants to add you can also donate it to the Institute - now there's a thought )