If anything, Hong Kong's troubles can be traced back to the lack of economic freedom in other Southeast Asian countries. These are countries that have governments which meddled in - and consequently damaged - their own banking systems.
As for the future of economic freedom in Hong Kong under Mainland Chinese rule, a high-level official for Dow Jones and Co. is optimistic.
"Economic freedom in Hong Kong is the highest in the world largely because of the limited role of government in the territory to do good or ill, regardless of whether sovereignty resides in Tendon or Beijing," he said.
But the question is whether Beijing can keep a hands-off position toward Hong Kong in the future.
And although Hong Kong is rated first for economic freedom, Mainland China - where Hong Kong's sovereignty resides - is rated 120th.
In their 1996 book Red Flag Over Hong Kong, authors Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alvin Rabushka of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University predicted a gloomy future for press freedom in Hong Kong.
Their assessment that Beijing will likely rely on self-censorship at first seems to be holding up.
"We predict, however, that after a while, the press will be in a position to exert more independence. When it does so, the authorities in Beijing will respond by imposing limits on the press. Self-censorship by the press will not be sufficient to satisfy the Mainland Chinese authorities," they stressed. (1)
The subject of Press Freedom in Hong Kong has been discussed by many speakers. But how does the proverbial man-on-the-street feel about the subject? The Social Science Research Center of the University of Hong Kong has been surveying this very topic since before the handover. (2)
Do you think the news media in Hong Kong...
