Decomposition of Consumer Price Index in Hong Kong

Most countries around the world have been undergoing an increasing upward pressure on the price levels as shown by consumer price index, including the United States, the United Kingdom, the EU zone, Singapore and so on. Nonetheless, Hong Kong stands out in the crowd with its  price level hovering around 1 to 2%. In MayContinue reading “Decomposition of Consumer Price Index in Hong Kong”

Price level trends and possible causes in some ASEAN economies

Inflationary pressure in the United State has been piling up since the middle of 2020, whose price level as measured in the consumer price index(CPI) increased from almost zero per cent to 8.5% in May 2022, marking four-decade highs. During the same period, price levels in ASEAN economies also demonstrate an upward trend. Among selectedContinue reading “Price level trends and possible causes in some ASEAN economies”

Debate on dividend tax in Hong Kong

What is dividend tax? Dividend refers to the part of after-tax profits of a company for distribution to its shareholders in proportion to the number of shares they hold. With dividend tax imposed, part of companies’ dividend distribution will be taxed by a certain percentage. Hong Kong does not levy taxes on dividends. Dividends repatriatedContinue reading “Debate on dividend tax in Hong Kong”

Price control on gasoline, New Jersey USA

I. What happened In 2012, Hurricane Sandy greatly damaged New Jersey’s infrastructure and led to a temporary outage that disrupted the operation of some gas stations. Newspapers reported that 60% of the gas stations in New Jersey were closed. The sellers raised the gasoline price by as much as 30% in a day. New Jersey’sContinue reading “Price control on gasoline, New Jersey USA”

Price control on Uber, India 

I. What happened Uber is a well-known app providing ride-hailing services, with businesses operating around the world. It is a rather new business model – “the sharing economy” which matches up taxi passengers and drivers. In India before 2016 when price used to be unregulated, as opposed to the traditional taxi service providers mandated toContinue reading “Price control on Uber, India “

Price Control on food, Sri Lanka

I. What happened Hard hit by COVID-19, Sri Lanka’s tourism sector was severely dragged in 2020. Its tourism revenue dropped from the highest of USD 450 million in December 2019 to nearly zero throughout the second and third quarter of 2020. As a result, the country’s economic growth in 2020 also shrank by 3.6%, following aContinue reading “Price Control on food, Sri Lanka”

Lecture on “Evolution of Money” in Pui Ching Middle School

On 19 March 2022, Prof Travis Ng was invited to Pui Ching Middle School to deliver a lecture on the topic of “Evolution of Money”. Due to another outbreak of COVID-19 in Hong Kong, the lecture was held virtually on ZOOM. There were about 35 students attended the class. While it is taken for grantedContinue reading “Lecture on “Evolution of Money” in Pui Ching Middle School”

Quantity Theory of Money: causes of inflation and its implications on monetary policies

What are the factors that cause inflation? A standard approach to analyse inflation is to use the famous “Quantity Theory of Money” shown below. it is originally formulated by Polish mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus in 1517 and later popularized by economists Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz. MV = Py M = Money Supply V = VelocityContinue reading “Quantity Theory of Money: causes of inflation and its implications on monetary policies”

Introduction of useful indicators – Consumer Price Index compiled by C&SD

What is Inflation? The term Inflation is used to denote an ongoing rise in the general level of price quoted in units of money. The magnitude of inflation is the inflation rate, which is usually calculated by measuring the annualized changes in the price level of a basket of goods and services ­­­­­­­— Consumer PriceContinue reading “Introduction of useful indicators – Consumer Price Index compiled by C&SD”

Introduction of useful indicators : Doing Business Project from World Bank

What is the Doing Business project about? The Doing Business project from the World Bank provides objective and quantitative measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional levels, which serves as an important indicator for multinational companies when choosing potential economies to expand their businesses.Continue reading “Introduction of useful indicators : Doing Business Project from World Bank”