Articles: government intervention in the economy
Stop the .HK Takeover
Webb-site.com issues an urgent appeal to members of Hong Kong Internet
Registration Corp, to attend the EGM on Saturday morning and prevent the
unjustified Government takeover of the dot-HK domain registry. If User members
vote to slash their own board representation, they will be surrendering
democracy and opening the registry to potential political interference.
(19-Aug-08)
Intervention Returns
We look at the HK Government's surprise disclosure of 5.9% of HKEx, where it
might go next, and how it quietly scrapped a 5% benchmark on the Exchange Fund
weighting in HK stocks, leaving it as the 2nd-biggest investor after the
mainland Government. With about HK$1 trillion of surplus liquid assets, whatever
happened to Donald Tsang's "big market, small government"? We call on the
Government to return its surplus capital to the people with a 10-year program of
deliberate budgeted deficits. (10-Sep-07)
HK Government intervenes in
journalism
Was overseas coverage of HK's Handover anniversary too much and too
positive? Webb-site.com exposes the Hong Kong Government's junket
journalism programme, spending taxpayers' money flying journalists here, putting
them up in 5-star hotels, and biasing the coverage of HK affairs. (14-Jul-07)
Submission to LegCo on Movie
Fund
Webb-site.com editor
David Webb has made the following submission to the Legislative Council's
Information and Technology Broadcast Panel for its meeting on 17-Apr-07,
incorporating the results of our opinion poll. (10-Apr-07)
Lights, camera...budget!
We look at the recent
history of HK Government intervention in the movie industry, the land grants
involved, and the proposal to throw HK$300m of public money into private
movie production. We urge LegCo to cut this scene from Hong Kong's script.
Tell them what you think in our opinion poll. (9-Mar-07)
Disneyland Through the
Looking Glass
We look at the governance
and financial aspects of Hong Kong International Theme Parks Ltd, better
known as Hong Kong Disneyland. We call on the Government to publish the
company's accounts, the related agreements, and the identities of the
independent directors it said would be appointed. And we ask, was this a
good use of 280 hectares of land, and why was there no tender for the project?
(23-Sep-05)
Government Blocks Free Market in
Tickets
Imagine a securities law which allows IPOs but bans share-trading above the IPO
price. That, in a nutshell, is a description of the law on the market for
entertainment tickets in Hong Kong. We call on the Government to stop
interfering in private contract and wasting law-enforcement resources, and allow
the resale of tickets at free market prices. Legalising ticket trading would
create new employment, increase profits tax revenue and help set ticket prices
in the primary market. (7-Sep-05)
Hong Kong's Own Goal
It's a goal! No, we're
not talking about the consolation goal that Brazil let in at the end of a
7-1 thrashing of Hong Kong, but the own-goal scored by the HKFA in its
ticketing strategy. We look at the economics of event pricing and suggest a
better, market-driven approach to ticket sales, which should reduce the
amount of public subsidies in HK sports and arts. These subsidies are in
direct conflict with HK's free-market philosophy. (13-Feb-05)
TraHK Suitable?
Now for the 10-billion dollar question -
the public offer closes at 12 noon tomorrow. Should you buy the Tracker
Fund of Hong Kong? We give you our considered view. (3-Nov-99)
TraHK on Tap
We explain in detail how the Tap mechanism will draw index shares from the
Government's holdings when the market moves upwards, dampening the upside on the
market. At the current rate, we expect HK$24bn of tap next year. We also look at
the redemption and subscription mechanism and its likely effect on the trading
prices of the TraHK. Finally, we demonstrate how the HSI has been boosted
relative to the rest of the market by the Government's intervention. (1-Nov-99)
Circular TraHK
In an extraordinary move, the Government has said that
its Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority will invest part of its
operating funds and compensation fund in the TraHK. This Government's
blatant attempt to underwrite its own issue represents the next step on a
slippery slope of Government fiddling with the markets. Who will invest
next - the Airport Authority, Water Authority, or Hongkong Post?
(28-Oct-99)
On TraHK
The prospectus for the Tracker Fund is now out and we've
read it. In this article we look at the complexities of how and when the
discount and pricing will be
fixed, the odd lots created by the loyalty bonus, and make an early
assessment of the potential public demand. (25-Oct-99)
EFIL Announces Sale Plans
The Government has announced plans to sell off its surplus equity holdings
as a unit trust, which we recommended in February. The plan is short on detail and fails
to commit to a scheduled disposal programme, instead preferring to time the launch based
on "prevailing market conditions". At current prices, we calculate that
the Exchange Fund will have to sell HK$177bn of shares, or 79% of its holdings, to reduce
its portfolio to the target 5% weighting. (21-Jun-99)
EFIL Comes to LIFE
What the government should do with its HK$160 billion equity portfolio. (8-Feb-99)
Government Stock Market Intervention
a commentary on the Hong Kong government's controversial intervention in the local
stock market. (1998)
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