After looking at Zhou Wenqiang, Ge Lianghong became serious, and even took out his reading glasses and began to read carefully from the first page.

Moreover, his reading speed became slower and slower, and finally he even read it word by word, and sighed from time to time.

Obviously, Ge Lianghong was shocked.

It took an hour and a half to read Zhou Wenqiang's 'legislative proposal' and looked up at him and said, "There are bold ideas... and the views are novel. Are you sure Hong Kong Island is a special area that is deeply trapped in the 'Malthus Trap'?"

"It's not deep, but forever trapped by it."

Zhou Wenqiang picked up a small cake and ate it, supplementing some sugar for his brain, and then said: "According to Malthus's trap theory, before the industrial revolution was realized, land output could not increase exponentially or even dozens of times. At this time, the population determines the rise and fall of the country."

"When the population reaches a certain amount, if the land is not distributed enough and the output is not filled enough, it will enter the vicious time node of the 'Malthus Trap'. The country and dynasties will enter the chaotic times and eventually collapse completely; when the population is greatly reduced due to war, if the land is distributed enough and the output is sufficient, it will enter the benign time node of the 'Malthus Trap' and enter the prosperous era. This has little to do with whether the rulers are wise, or many so-called wise rulers in the prosperous era are just catching up with the benign node of the trap..."

"In the late Ming Dynasty in Chinese history, the population reached 170 million, so it collapsed rapidly. Many historians believe that this was caused by the 'Little Ice Age', but it is not. You should know that the Little Ice Age has affected many countries in the world, and Europe was not spared, but it was precisely because Europe achieved the industrial revolution that it was able to pass through it safely."

"So, as a British colony, Hong Kong Island enjoys the fruits of the Industrial Revolution, can it avoid this trap theory? On the contrary!"

Zhou Wenqiang said heavily: "This is determined by the special geographical location of Hong Kong Island. First of all, it is a re-export port without agricultural support. Many food and even some water sources still rely on the supply of the mainland; secondly, it lacks heavy industry support, handicrafts, manufacturing, trading companies and banks, which cannot solve the fundamental livelihood problems; thirdly, it carries the important mission of connecting the East and the West, and the weather of the Oriental Financial Center has now faintly appeared..."

"I can predict that Hong Kong Island in the future will be a special economic zone with hot money and financial leadership. It is like a castle in the air, and will be in chaos at any time due to external factors! Just like what Sir Ge is worried about, the current situation in the mainland is subtle and will be more prominent in the next two years. I can even assert that in the next ten years, Hong Kong Island will be in turmoil like the mainland!"

"Foreign immigrants, hot money influx, and financial development will inevitably lead to a rise in land prices, and this will be the theme that will remain unchanged in the next few decades! Therefore, the future Hong Kong people will always fall into the vicious circle of the "Malthus Trap" and cannot escape! They are not farmers and will not fight because of the land, but they are humans, and they also need houses!"

"So housing prices will be the concentration of social contradictions in Hong Kong. To solve Sir Ge's concerns, we must start from here! The legislative suggestions I put forward may not fundamentally solve the problem of the continued rise in Hong Kong housing prices in the next few decades. After all, there are many people and few land. This is an economic law and even God cannot reverse it. But if my suggestions are supported by the Legislative Council, it will greatly alleviate this problem..."

“Is it that serious?”

Ge Lianghong frowned and said, "The shanty town renovation and public housing that Beiwang and the Hong Kong government have promoted have solved the housing problems of some people in the lower class; as for the middle class who are interested in buying a house, I heard that Li Zhiheng has already said that no matter what the opening price of Beiwang Real Estate is, he will reduce the price by 10%. Perhaps the 'benevolent competition' between you will also be beneficial to stabilizing Hong Kong housing prices?"

Zhou Wenqiang smiled and shook his head repeatedly.

"Sir Ge is wrong. I believe you know better than me how Li Zhiheng started his career. People like him will give back to home buyers with conscience? A joke! He just wants to 'harm people with his original intention' and defeat my Beiwang Real Estate."

"If he defeated Beiwang and took charge of the Hong Kong real estate industry, what would happen?"

In fact, with Beiwang Real Estate's foundation, even if he loses to the wealthy Li family in the first round, it will not be so easy for Li Zhiheng to take charge of Hong Kong Island Real Estate. Zhou Wenqiang deliberately exaggerates, otherwise it would not be enough to impress Ge Lianghong.

"The result is that the Lee family pushes Hong Kong housing prices into a period of non-better growth. This move will certainly drive the growth of real estate, construction and other related industries, but it is a legacy. Once it evolves into a situation where "there are no houses, but those with houses do not live in", the mainland situation will have a tenfold impact on Hong Kong Island!"

Ge Lianghong frowned and said, "The Hong Kong government still has the ability to check and balance Li Zhiheng and will not let him do whatever he wants."

Zhou Wenqiang shook his head and said, "Sir Ge is wrong. 'Greed' is human nature. Once the Li family starts to raise land prices, many middle-class, big buyers, and even rich people will follow up. They will quickly invest their funds in the real estate industry and start speculating in real estate! The Hong Kong government may be able to warn that affecting the Li family, can it also affect these home buyers? Sir Ge should know better than me that the special historical period has caused the Hong Kong government to pour in many 'rich people'. Now the middle class in Hong Kong accounts for at least 35% of the total number. Once these people become real estate speculators, the housing prices in Hong Kong will soar in the short term. I'm afraid that you don't want to see this?"

Ge Lianghong nodded slightly: "That's why you suggested that the Legislative Council introduce the "Hong Kong Real Estate Management Code", which stipulates that "the owner owns two or more houses under the name of an owner, the deed tax should be levied twice as much when purchasing and selling the houses.' In addition, it also stipulates that, "new property cannot be sold within three years of purchase." This is to curb this kind of housing speculation?"

"Wen Qiang, the former is beneficial to the Hong Kong government's finances and may also receive support from the Finance Department, but the latter one directly affects the Hong Kong government's tax revenue. I'm afraid the Finance Department will strongly oppose it? You must have a reason to convince me, otherwise I can't help you..."

Zhou Wenqiang smiled and said, "I have two reasons: First, as long as the Hong Kong Real Estate Management Code is launched, in the next two years, I will ensure that the middle class and even some of the lower-class people who are truly willing to buy a house can buy the property they like. Especially the relatively 'rich' people among the lower-class people, they could not have the ability to buy their own property, but I will help them realize this wish."

"Second, in order to protect trade secrets, I have other legislative suggestions to submit them after the "Hong Kong Real Estate Management Code", which will naturally satisfy the people of the Finance Department at that time. They will find themselves a group of stupid sailors, and under my leadership, they discovered a new world..."

Ge Lianghong's heart moved: "Wen Qiang, letting the relatively 'rich' people among the lower class have the ability to buy real estate is probably the business secret you mentioned. Do you want to hide everything from me?"

Zhou Wenqiang shook his head: "I can only do this at this stage. So Sir Ge needs to take a bet and decide whether to bet on me. If you win the bet, I will help the Hong Kong government to mitigate the impact of the 'Malthus Trap' for a certain period of time, so that the middle class and some people in the lower class who are truly willing to buy a house can own their own houses."

"Sir Ge, will he still make trouble if a person has real estate in Hong Kong Island, or if he can see hope of owning real estate in the next few years?"

Ge Lianghong was sure of his heart and looked at Zhou Wenqiang deeply: "Wenqiang, you are not currently a member of parliament and are not qualified to make legislative suggestions to the Legislative Council. It seems that we need to solve this problem first..."
Chapter completed!