Anarchist FAQ/What are the myths of capitalist economics?/12
C.12 Doesn't Hong Kong show the potentials of "free market" capitalism?
pros
conglomerates
western conglomerates such as jardine matheson (hongkong land), swire(quarrybay), hong kong shanghai hotel group(peninsula) serves international business. cantonese conglomerates such as cheung kong hutchison whampoa(cheung kong center), sino(shangrila hotel and resorts), shk(shopping malls in major new towns), wheelocks(time square, wharf) emerges to diversify the dominance of western companies. old business model face digital challenge (li&fung )
cultural diversity
soho and lkf encompasses french, thai, viet, italian cusines.
chongqing building encompasses indian cuisines.
worldwide house encompasses philipine cusines and remittance companies.
arabic, such as lebanon, restaurants surrounding kowloon mosque flourishes.
finance
hsbc, bank of china and standard charted evolved and print currency without intervention of a federal government.
cons
real estate local real estate oligarchies hinds entries of western retailing companies, such as carrefour. new towns developed without a sustainable environment of culture and competitors.
language barrier
local education system in general put cantonese instead lingua franca in the first place.
local culture in general put emphasis on chinese history, may neglect cultures among south east asian countries.
franchising
chained stores increase productivity yet hinder creativity. maxim's catering developed more than 20 brands which help improve the situation, yet local factories such as gardens and food and beverages companies such as vita strike a balance for profit without reinvesting a large portion of money on research and development on branding.