ABSTRACT
In June 1995, Fortune magazine carried a cover story entitled "The Death of Hong Kong". As clearly stated in the first paragraph of the featured article, carrying the same title of the cover story, Hong Kong's future was best described in two simple words: "It's over". Professor Milton Friedman, a Nobel Laureate in the discipline of economics, was quoted in the report as saying that Hong Kong's economy would be unsustainable. But Hong Kong survived. It survived the Asian financial crisis in 1998 and the concomitant attack on its currency by speculators. It survived the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic, a respiratory disease that paralyzed its economy, in 2003. In the political arena, one must admit that the social and political scene in Hong Kong is different from earlier forecasts. The institutional design of 'One Country, Two Systems' was the outcome of a political compromise. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
