Some Men Named William Hunter

The Hunter family of Rhode Island produced two important American diplomatists of the nineteenth century. The elder William Hunter served for nine years as the American envoy to Brazil, where he exerted positive influence over the young emperor, Dom Pedro II. The younger William Hunter entered the Department of State in 1829 and spent fifty-seven years there under twenty-one Secretaries of State. For decades the department’s third-ranking officer, he became its “mentor and authority.” The overlapping careers of Hunter and his two successors helped guide American diplomacy until 1937.     

Women employment in colonial Hong Kong

Women's participation in the labour market is on the rise, and employment opportunities available to working women have increased greatly. However, working women in Hong Kong are still disproportionately underrepresented in higher status occupations. Despite general improvement in their educational attainment, women are still unequally paid. Their role in the workplace is still very much constrained and impeded by their familial role. Hong Kong women's continuing subordination in the workplace lies in the domination of the Chinese patriarchal family in industrial Hong Kong. Women experience institutional discrimination insofar as other institutions and the public at large also subscribe to culturally entrenched prejudices and discriminatory practices against women. It appears that women's subordinate status will not change in the foreseeable future.     

The Asian‐Pacific ‘Geese’: Flying or floundering?

The Western Pacific: Challenge of Sustainable Growth, by Alan Burnett. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 1992. 272 pp. £45. ISBN 1–85278–367–2.

Driven by Growth: Political Change in the Asia‐Pacific Region, edited by James W. Morley. M. E. Sharpe, Armonk NY, 1992. 345 pp. £42. ISBN 1–56324–013–0.

The West Pacific Rim, by Rupert Hodder. Belhaven Press, London, 1992. 153 pp. £35. ISBN 1–85293–210–4.

The East‐West Pendulum, by Robert Lloyd George. Woodhead Faulkner. Cambridge, 1992. 142 pp. £27.50. ISBN 0–85941–753–0.

People and Power in the Pacific, by Walden Bello. Pluto Press, London, 1993. 146 pp. £7.50 paperback. ISBN 0–7453–0698–5.     

Modern Central Banking: Pressures for Change

The role of the central bank as an instrument of government economic supervision has entered a period of flux, owing to the combined forces of financial deregulation, technological advance, monetary innovation and banking globalisation. This paper discusses, with special reference to Australia, pressing areas for potential reform in the role of the central bank including greater independence, international coordination, splitting of core functions, and the creation of a 'super-regulator'.     

The poor in Singapore: Issues and options

This article examines the changing patterns of poverty in Singapore. As Singapore's population ages, the poor increasingly includes the elderly. It appears that ascribed factors, such as gender and race, have significant influence on financial security at old age. As the population ages, the adequacy of existing anti-poverty policy is challenged.