Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9789888390625
- eISBN:
- 9789888390373
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888390625.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
When discussing inequality and poverty in Hong Kong, scholars and politicians often focus on the failures of government policy and push for an increase in social welfare. Richard Wong argues in ...
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When discussing inequality and poverty in Hong Kong, scholars and politicians often focus on the failures of government policy and push for an increase in social welfare. Richard Wong argues in Fixing Inequality in Hong Kong that universal retirement support, minimum wage, and standard hours of work are of limited effect in shrinking the inequality gap. By comparing Hong Kong with Singapore, he points out that Hong Kong needs a new and long-term strategy on human resource policy. He recommends more investment in education, focusing on early education and immigration policy reforms to attract highly educated and skilled people to join the workforce. In analyzing what causes inequality, this book ties disparate issues together into a coherent framework, such as Hong Kong’s aging population, lack of investment in human capital, and family breakdowns. Rising divorce rates among low-income households have worsened the housing shortage, driving rents and property prices upwards. Housing problems created a bigger gap between those who own housing and have the ability to invest in their children’s human capital and those who cannot, thus adversely impacting intergenerational upward mobility. This is the third of Richard Wong’s collections of articles on society and economy in Hong Kong. Diversity and Occasional Anarchy and Hong Kong Land for Hong Kong People, published by Hong Kong University Press in 2013 and 2015 respectively, discuss growing economic and social contradictions in Hong Kong and current housing problems and their solutions.Less
When discussing inequality and poverty in Hong Kong, scholars and politicians often focus on the failures of government policy and push for an increase in social welfare. Richard Wong argues in Fixing Inequality in Hong Kong that universal retirement support, minimum wage, and standard hours of work are of limited effect in shrinking the inequality gap. By comparing Hong Kong with Singapore, he points out that Hong Kong needs a new and long-term strategy on human resource policy. He recommends more investment in education, focusing on early education and immigration policy reforms to attract highly educated and skilled people to join the workforce. In analyzing what causes inequality, this book ties disparate issues together into a coherent framework, such as Hong Kong’s aging population, lack of investment in human capital, and family breakdowns. Rising divorce rates among low-income households have worsened the housing shortage, driving rents and property prices upwards. Housing problems created a bigger gap between those who own housing and have the ability to invest in their children’s human capital and those who cannot, thus adversely impacting intergenerational upward mobility. This is the third of Richard Wong’s collections of articles on society and economy in Hong Kong. Diversity and Occasional Anarchy and Hong Kong Land for Hong Kong People, published by Hong Kong University Press in 2013 and 2015 respectively, discuss growing economic and social contradictions in Hong Kong and current housing problems and their solutions.
Allan Christelow
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813037554
- eISBN:
- 9780813043975
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813037554.003.0007
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
The conclusion reviews historical cycles of change through which Algerians have moved since the late eighteenth century, with times of opening and hope for effective change, and times of repression ...
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The conclusion reviews historical cycles of change through which Algerians have moved since the late eighteenth century, with times of opening and hope for effective change, and times of repression and revolt when there is fear that any thoughtful, independent voice will be stifled. In such bleak times some of the best settings for creative innovation are marginal locations such as nineteenth century Damascus and twenty-first century Montreal. Statistics that reflect recent developments are considered such as the rising age of marriage, declining birth rates, and the high rank of Algeria in the Human Capital Flight Index. The epilogue suggests that the “Arab Spring” can be seen as a new era of opening and transition, and notes that Algeria has been remarkably quiet, perhaps because Algerians have learned through tragic experience that quiet negotiation for pragmatic change is the best way to proceed.Less
The conclusion reviews historical cycles of change through which Algerians have moved since the late eighteenth century, with times of opening and hope for effective change, and times of repression and revolt when there is fear that any thoughtful, independent voice will be stifled. In such bleak times some of the best settings for creative innovation are marginal locations such as nineteenth century Damascus and twenty-first century Montreal. Statistics that reflect recent developments are considered such as the rising age of marriage, declining birth rates, and the high rank of Algeria in the Human Capital Flight Index. The epilogue suggests that the “Arab Spring” can be seen as a new era of opening and transition, and notes that Algeria has been remarkably quiet, perhaps because Algerians have learned through tragic experience that quiet negotiation for pragmatic change is the best way to proceed.
R.V. Vaidyanatha Ayyar
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199463473
- eISBN:
- 9780199087129
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199463473.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Education
This chapter describes the run-up to the World Conference on Education for All held at Jomtien (1990), the negotiation process and the outcomes of that Conference. It outlines the paradigmatic shifts ...
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This chapter describes the run-up to the World Conference on Education for All held at Jomtien (1990), the negotiation process and the outcomes of that Conference. It outlines the paradigmatic shifts in the economic thinking on primary education which resulted in primary education becoming ‘cool’ and the World Bank emerging as a champion of primary education. The chapter narrates how India with the World’s largest out-of-school children became a hot destination by agencies eager to fund basic education, and how the bright prospects of large scape external funding arose at the very time India was drifting to an acute macroeconomic crisis. It outlines the role external assistance had hitherto played in Indian economic development in general and to education in particular. It also outlines the parameters developed by the Union Department of education for availing external assistance, and scoffs at the radical criticism in India that the Jomtien Conference was neo-liberal conspiracy.Less
This chapter describes the run-up to the World Conference on Education for All held at Jomtien (1990), the negotiation process and the outcomes of that Conference. It outlines the paradigmatic shifts in the economic thinking on primary education which resulted in primary education becoming ‘cool’ and the World Bank emerging as a champion of primary education. The chapter narrates how India with the World’s largest out-of-school children became a hot destination by agencies eager to fund basic education, and how the bright prospects of large scape external funding arose at the very time India was drifting to an acute macroeconomic crisis. It outlines the role external assistance had hitherto played in Indian economic development in general and to education in particular. It also outlines the parameters developed by the Union Department of education for availing external assistance, and scoffs at the radical criticism in India that the Jomtien Conference was neo-liberal conspiracy.
