A study of housing policy, suitable for undergraduates and specialists. It looks at the benefits and limitations of the comparative method and reasons for government involvement in housing. Key themes in a range of advanced capitalist countries are discussed.

The implications of population ageing have long concerned politicians, policy makers and governmental and non-governmental organizations in the welfare states of Europe. However, an ageing workforce is increasingly a matter of concern for the developed and fast-developing countries of Asia. Japan leads the field in this respect on account of the speed of its postwar economic development. But the little tigers of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are poised to catch up, and Malaysia, though in the second tier of developing Asian economics, faces the prospect of population ageing...