PhD student Anson Au recently published an op-ed on South China Morning Post titled "How US Fed monetary policy is putting Hong Kong’s economy at risk". In this article, Anson analyzes the latest developments in the U.S. Federal Reserve policy and the three threats it poses to Hong Kong's economy. These threats include: (1) the depreciation of the Hong Kong dollar, (2) inflation contagion, and (3) the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's inability to decide its own monetary policy. Anson provides two sets of strategies to ameliorate these risks.
Anson is currently a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Toronto and a Doctoral Fellow at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. His research seeks to understand how behaviours are patterned in professions, organizations, and social networks. He has a regional focus on East Asia.
We include a short excerpt of the article. You can read the full article on the South China Morning Post.
The coronavirus pandemic dealt a severe blow to the global economy last year after it took a battering in 2019. As a result, central banks around the world have released rounds of cheap money into the market to support recovery – most of all in the United States.
Pundits have focused on the US and observed the beneficial effects of cheap money, but they have largely overlooked how this will affect Hong Kong. In fact, there are three significant risks from US monetary policy for the city, given Hong Kong’s dollar peg.