Unemployment reform that benefits getting back to work makes sense to me. Hong Kong is taking that approach. It’s not a perfect solution that’s being offered by leftist Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying. But it’s better than what we’ve got in the U.S. The Wall Street Journal Asia Review and Outlook writes:
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announced an expansion of Hong Kong’s small welfare state in his annual policy address on Wednesday. That was no big surprise. His government has been under pressure, particularly from the pro-democracy opposition, to do more to help the working poor. Mr. Leung hails from the leftist community within Hong Kong that supported the Chinese Communist Party when that was decidedly not cool.
The shocker is that Mr. Leung’s new Low-Income Working Family Allowance promises to encourage work rather than subsidize poverty. The program deserves qualified praise.
Let’s stipulate that the best way to help the poor is to encourage entrepreneurial activity, which creates wealth and provides social mobility. Hong Kong remains a model on this score.
