"Victim, not instigator of the Asian Financial Crisis, Hong Kong was the only economy that succeeded in defending its fully convertible currency, indeed its entire financial system, against speculators, but the price paid for success has been deep recession. Jao gives an account and analysis of what happened to one of the world's most open economies during that world-roiling event.

Without political or ideological preconsiderations, he shows how Hong Kong authorities handled their intervention in the equity market in August 1998. He explains the conventional wisdom that no fixed exchange rate regime can hold out for long against massive speculation. He goes further to show that Hong Kong contributed not only to the eventual easing of the AFC, but to economic stability throughout Asia as well."--BOOK JACKET.