So I’ve been here about three months now, but only recently have I begun to appreciate Hong Kong for what it is — a big petri dish for pro-business capitalism. This is a business town, and what business says will happen generally does happen. Its influence is felt in ways big and little, from the biggest government policies to how I pay the water bill. For the politically minded here, I’m going to try to keep a tab of what works and what doesn’t, and whether I think it would apply to a big

A couple of caveats:

One: Hong Kong is not a democracy. Beijing holds ultimate control, but within that the system favors business interests. The people vote for only half of the city’s 60 lawmaker seats. Professional groups, of lawyers, doctors, accountants, bankers, etc., control the other 30. A staunchly pro-business government that’s also a real representative democracy might function differently.

Two: Hong Kong is pro-business, but it’s not laissez-faire. To the contrary, the government helps existing businesses to a great degree. A few years back it bailed out the stock market here with a big injection of money. One of the biggest business lessons this place has given me is that for a government to be truly laissez-faire, it needs to be both strong and independent. Who knew?

The areas so far:

Taxes

What’s good: They are low and they are flat. As an American citizen who wants only the best policy at home, I have deep doubts about its fairness and practicality in the U.S. As a self-centered bastard, I have to say it rocks. They take 16% at the end of the year. It’s a bit more complicated than that for expats, but it still applies to most of our income. This means extra spending money, which is good because alcohol is one of the few things that’s heavily taxed here, and Dr. No has developed a taste for old fashioneds.

What’s bad: It’s hard to tell. I have a generally nice employer who pays me enough to keep me from exploring public assistance programs and benefits that keep me exploring public health programs. I did have a nice trip to a public hospital — I kicked a wall, it was hard, it hurt but nothing brokey — and it was clean and quick. I had to pay about HK$130 (@ $17 U.S.) for treatment, but there may have been something invisible between them and my company going on.

Infrastructure

The good: Not sure about the roads, but other businesses — the ferries, the subway, etc. — are owned by corporations instead of the government. And boy are they clean. In New York, I wouldn’t eat anything I dropped in a car or on a platform. In Hong Kong… ok, I still wouldn’t eat it, but I’d think twice. I don’t know for sure there’s a relationship, but I expect there’s at least some. The transportation here is much cheaper. It’s the way this stuff should be run.

The bad: Naturally, it’s more expensive to carry people farther out. And people farther out are generally less affluent, as rents near the city center are sky-high. That means less well-to-do people pay much higher fares to get anywhere. In New York, this would be cause for revolution. Here, that’s just how it is. As a business practice, it’s sound. It might be a better environmental practice, too, to charge people who use more energy higher prices. But it adds to the burden on lower-income folks.

Basic services

The good: They’re pretty good. Not quite what I’d expect in the U.S., but there’s Internet banking, and grocery stories and all that.

The bad: There’s almost no competition. The same family that gives us cable (the only real cable provider for us English-speakers out of the two providers) also provides Internet (one of two), cellphone services (one of several but the one company dominates) and owns our local grocery store (one of two major chains). I don’t know who owns the water or electronic companies, but I’m afraid to ask. The government lets business do what it wants, and that means it ruthlessly stamps out competition. As a result, prices are higher and services aren’t as competitive as they are in the U.S.