On average between 1981 and 2007, output per capita in Hong Kong grew at an annual rate of 3.2 percent. But economic performance over the period was far from even. Between 1987 and 1997, output per capita averaged 9.7 percent above its long run growth path. In 1997, the feast ended and the...

Prior to the late 1990s, low unemployment was a standard feature of macroeconomic life in Hong Kong. Between 1985 and 1997, the unemployment rate averaged 2.5 percent. But the picture changed dramatically thereafter with the unemployment rate rising to 6.2 percent by 1999 and remaining above 5...