The Pulse：Policy Address, interview with Lam Pun-lee & the economy after months of protests

On Wednesday, after disruption in the Legislative Council chamber, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, in an unprecedented move delivered her Policy Address via a pre-recorded video. She warned that Hong Kong¡¦s political turmoil, had brought the SAR to the brink, and that a "technical recession¨ in the third quarter was now underway. The government will hand out HK$19.1 billion in sweeteners and is focusing on housing and land supply. Mrs Lam says housing is the "toughest¨ livelihood issue and "a source of public grievances". But when it came to offering solutions to the current political crisis, she had nothing to say. We talked to economist Lam Pun-lee about the Address.

In September, Fitch, one of the world¡¦s leading credit rating firms, downgraded Hong Kong¡¦s rating for the first time since 1995. The sovereign debt rating has been marked down from AA+ to AA and the outlook has changed from stable to negative. Fitch says persistent conflict is testing the "One Country, Two Systems" framework and has created "long-lasting damage to international perceptions of Hong Kong's governance system and rule of law."