【明報專訊】The word "hegemony" has its origins in Greek and Latin and originally means "leader". It refers to control by one country over other countries in aspects like politics, economic relations and cultural relations. It is more or less synonymous with "domination", "rule" and "position of power".

Hegemonism X the United States

"Hegemonism" literally means a country's position of political, economic, military and cultural dominance by virtue of its resources. The United States, for example, has financial hegemony because the US Dollar is the world's most important reserve currency and because many world-famous credit rating agencies and banks are incorporated in the country. If the US is caught up in any financial turbulence (as it was in the 2008 financial crisis), the repercussions are felt worldwide.

Hegemony X monopoly

"Monopoly" refers to a situation where there is no substitute for a product or service a provider offers. The provider monopolises the whole market and can set its price so as to maximise its returns. For many years, Hong Kong's free-to-air TV market has been lacking in competition – TVB has monopolised it. Some artists under contract to TVB are not allowed to speak in Cantonese when they are interviews by other TV stations. In 2013, the Communications Authority (CA) found TVB guilty of monopolising artists and singers and fined it ＄900,000. Unhappy with the ruling, TVB appealed to the Executive Council and filed for judicial review. In January 2016, the court ruled in favour of TVB and overturned the CA's ruling.

The Competition Ordinance《競爭條例》

Consumers have small choice when a supplier monopolises the market. The Competition Ordinance (which came into force on 14 December 2015) is designed to combat anti-competition behaviour. Four kinds of serious anti-competition behaviour (agreeing with competitors to fix prices, sharing markets, bid-rigging and restricting output) are targeted by the ordinance.

Cultural hegemony (文化霸權)

"Cultural hegemony" is also called "cultural leadership". Through propaganda or with the help of the mass media, a country promotes its values, politico-economic system or lifestyle to other countries and inculcates its people's ways of thinking, values and beliefs into those countries' people. Hollywood blockbusters are often described as a symbol of America's cultural hegemony and a vehicle by means of which it exports its values. One example is movies of heroism, which carry the message that the US has a responsibility to maintain world peace.

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Developer hegemony (地產霸權)

"Developer hegemony" refers to developers' predominance of housing supply as well as the far reach of their tentacles, which have extended to retailing and public utilities (such as energy, transportation and supermarkets). Developers virtually control Hong Kong's development. That has exacerbated wealth inequality and made distribution of resources even unfairer. The phrase is also used in discussions of collusion between the government and big business, developers' predominance and Hong Kong's economic structure.

Link REIT(領展)operates about 40% of Hong Kong's public markets. Some say it has got rid of small retailers after it has renovated its markets. Some retailers have complained that visitors are few but the rents are high. The companies that manage some of those markets have arranged for their subsidiary meat stalls to do business there. That has led to accusations of a monopoly.

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