Narrow Results

This paper first provides a brief review of the global financial tsunami. It then explains why the quantitative easing in the US and the unique characteristics of the Asian property markets have contributed to the formation of property bubbles in some Asian economies. Thereafter, it discusses the possibility of a bursting of property bubbles in Hong Kong, Singapore or another Asian economy a few years from now, and highlights that the bursting of the property bubble in that economy could trigger severe corrections of property prices in this region through the contagion effect. After pointing out that the implied crisis could be more severe than that during the Asian Financial Crisis, it (i) discusses policies that could mitigate the damages of the potential crisis and (ii) draws important lessons and conclusions that could pre-empt similar disasters in the future.

Further to the author’s recommended transitory and medium-term exchange rate system reforms that was implemented in China since July 2005, this paper explains that: (1) a long-term reform towards a floating exchange rate system with free capital mobility will cause huge damages to the Chinese economy. It then proposes a long-term exchange rate system that would probably benefit China the most; and (2) there is a serious mistake in China’s latest exchange rate policy: The Chinese central bank has mistakenly allowed the renminbi exchange rate to rise with the strong rebound of the US dollar. This will cause not only a substantial drag in China’s export and GDP growth, but will also eventually make China’s financial and economic system vulnerable to a highly disruptive correction in the renminbi exchange rate.