George Soros Quotations

Bush's war in Iraq has done untold damage to the United States. It has impaired our military power and undermined the morale of our armed forces. Our troops were trained to project overwhelming power. They were not trained for occupation duties.

I'm not doing my philanthropic work, out of any kind of guilt, or any need to create good public relations. I'm doing it because I can afford to do it, and I believe in it.

The criminalization of marijuana did not prevent marijuana from becoming the most widely used illegal substance in the United States and many other countries. But it did result in extensive costs and negative consequences.

There is a resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe. The policies of the Bush administration and the Sharon administration contribute to that. It's not specifically anti-Semitism, but it does manifest itself in anti-Semitism as well.

To my mind, there is a solution which has to do with democracy, because democratic governments are subject to the will of the people. So, if the people will it, you can actually create international institutions through the democratic states.

We must recognize that as the dominant power in the world we have a special responsibility. In addition to protecting our national interests, we must take the leadership in protecting the common interests of humanity.

Now that I have called you on your false accusation, you are using additional smear tactics.

The worse a situation becomes the less it takes to turn it around, the bigger the upside.

The financial markets generally are unpredictable. So that one has to have different scenarios... The idea that you can actually predict what's going to happen contradicts my way of looking at the market.

Increasingly, the Chinese will own a lot more of the world because they will be converting their dollar reserves and U.S. government bonds into real assets.

I put forward a pretty general theory that financial markets are intrinsically unstable. That we really have a false picture when we think about markets tending towards equilibrium.

Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition there is no shame in being wrong, only in failing to correct our mistakes.

A full and fair discussion is essential to democracy.

Law has become a business. Health care has become a business. Unfortunately, politics has also become a business. That really undermines society.

Just as the process of repealing national alcohol prohibition began with individual states repealing their own prohibition laws, so individual states must now take the initiative with respect to repealing marijuana prohibition laws.

Stock market bubbles don't grow out of thin air. They have a solid basis in reality, but reality as distorted by a misconception.

If the terrorists have the sympathy of people, it's much harder to find them. So we need people on our side, and that leads us to be responsible leaders of the world, show some concern with the problems.

Regulating and taxing marijuana would simultaneously save taxpayers billions of dollars in enforcement and incarceration costs, while providing many billions of dollars in revenue annually.

A lot of the evil in the world is actually not intentional. A lot of people in the financial system did a lot of damage without intending to.

Proposition 19 already is a winner no matter what happens on election day. The mere fact of its being on the ballot has elevated and legitimized public discourse about marijuana and marijuana policy in ways I could not have imagined a year ago.

Throughout the 19th century, when there was a laissez-faire mentality and insufficient regulation, you had one crisis after another. Each crisis brought about some reform. That is how central banking developed.

Well, you know, I was a human being before I became a businessman.

We are the most powerful nation on earth. No external power, no terrorist organization can defeat us. But we can defeat ourselves by getting caught in a quagmire.

I chose America as my home because I value freedom and democracy, civil liberties and an open society.

The people currently in charge have forgotten the first principle of an open society, namely that we may be wrong and that there has to be free discussion. That it's possible to be opposed to the policies without being unpatriotic.

I see tremendous imbalance in the world. A very uneven playing field, which has gotten tilted very badly. I consider it unstable. At the same time, I don't exactly see what is going to reverse it.

President Bush is endangering our safety, hurting our vital interests, and undermining American values.

Market fundamentalists recognize that the role of the state in the economy is always disruptive, inefficient, and generally has negative connotations. This leads them to believe that the market mechanism can take care of all the problems.

My foundations support people in the country who care about an open society. It's their work that I'm supporting. So it's not me doing it. But I can empower them. I can support them, and I can help them.

Markets are constantly in a state of uncertainty and flux and money is made by discounting the obvious and betting on the unexpected.

The reality is that financial markets are self-destabilizing; occasionally they tend toward disequilibrium, not equilibrium.

Unrestrained competition can drive people into actions that they would otherwise regret.

Who most benefits from keeping marijuana illegal? The greatest beneficiaries are the major criminal organizations in Mexico and elsewhere that earn billions of dollars annually from this illicit trade - and who would rapidly lose their competitive advantage if marijuana were a legal commodity.

Markets are designed to allow individuals to look after their private needs and to pursue profit. It's really a great invention, and I wouldn't underestimate the value of that. But they're not designed to take care of social needs.

When it comes to social consequences, they've got all different people acting in different ways, very difficult to even have a proper criterion of success. So, it's a difficult task.

When I had made more money than I needed for myself and my family, I set up a foundation to promote the values and principles of a free and open society.

I think there's a lot of merit in an international economy and global markets, but they're not sufficient because markets don't look after social needs.

I would prefer not to be involved in party politics.

An open society is a society which allows its members the greatest possible degree of freedom in pursuing their interests compatible with the interests of others.

So I think what needs to happen is he needs to be removed from power,

I hardly knew the man's name, ... He really invented me. He needed me for his political purposes, so I'm a figment of his imagination.

I give away something up to $500 million a year throughout the world promoting Open Society. My foundations support people in the country who care about an open society. It's their work that I'm supporting. So it's not me doing it.

I don't think you will see the Fed jumping to interest rates,

I expect by '07 there will be a significant decline in U.S. consumer spending, and I don't see what will take its place, because it's so important as the motor of the world economy.

He is actually doing the right thing for himself because he is preserving himself in power, and he puts himself in a position where he can bail out his cronies who are in financial difficulties, including his son and so on,

It is a bizarre thing because I was the only one who was found guilty when the whole of the French establishment was involved,

I think the (Brazilian) government has done most of the things it promised to do on the fiscal front, ... However, it has mismanaged the process so badly that the currency overshot.

I think that it will lead to reforms and I am sure that the region will recover because it has tremendous energy,

I think they got the facts wrong. There was no case of insider trading.

I think the whole idea of eradicating the drug problem is a false idea, ... You can discourage the use of drugs, you can forbid the use of drugs, you can treat people who are addicted to drugs, but you cannot eradicate drugs. Once you accept this point, you may be able to develop a more rational approach to the problem.

Over half of all AIDS cases involving children are directly related to unclean syringes,

Markets are constantly in a state of uncertainty and flux and money is make by discounting the obvious and betting on the unexpected.

I think I lost my touch some time ago. I'm like an aging boxer that should not go into the ring,

The absurdity of its illegality has been clear to me for some time. I learned about pot from my kids and realized it was a lot better than Scotch, and I loved the Scotch. Then I went to my doctor, and he said, 'I'm thrilled. You're drinking too much. You're much better off doing pot than drinking.'

Most of the capital (in Indonesia) is in the hands of limited business groups, which don't feel so secure here. Any slightest risk will cause them take their money to Singapore.

We have come to realize that a large hedge fund like Quantum Fund is no longer the best way to manage money, ... Markets have become extremely unstable and historical measures of value at risk no longer apply.

You have the potential of a breakdown of the entire system if you have a slowdown of economic activity in the center even as inflationary pressures mount, ... We're on the edge of it, yes.

This would enable the authority to set a ceiling on the amounts it is willing to insure,

This reorganization took place in the full glare of publicity and involved the departure of a large number of employees. Inevitably this gave rise to rumors ... but in fact everything went according to plan,

This segment has considerable momentum and people are not ready to jump ship as long as prices are rising,

but recently we have seen financial markets sometimes move more like a wrecking ball, knocking over one economy after another.

Up to those amounts the countries concerned would be able to access international capital markets at prime rates. Beyond these, the creditors would have to beware.

As the housing boom cools off, there will be a shortfall in demand (which will) affect the global economy.

Something really is broken in the international financial architecture, ... We're now in the 20th month of financial crisis. Yet this crisis was brewing, it was the most anticipated crisis in recent history.

Now, I have not worked out the details, because I don't think it's for me to work out the details. It's for them to work out the details.

This asymmetry in the treatment of lenders and borrowers is a major source of instability in the global capitalist system and it needs to be corrected,

There's (a) problem that I think is brewing, and that is the end of the housing boom in the United States and the ability of households to spend more than they earn because the value of their house is rising.

It's a very, very troubling and troublesome development.

It sounds like a careful step, not a huge expansion

The objective is to provide the best possible management for the assets of my family and foundations that may also be attractive to other investors with similar objectives, and to put into place a structure that will last beyond my lifetime,

No, because I've got the same courts that found me guilty in the first place.

It will require, I think, the release of funds and perhaps even an increased package to bring stability, ... Everything that could have been done wrong has been done wrong.

I'm very worried about the supply-demand balance, which is very tight.

If you have the rule of law, then you're going to get investment in factories. You have to assure or give a sense of assurance to investors in direct investments that they will be fairly treated and that their property rights are respected.

I really want to help people who are hurt. And if I do that, I feel that my money is well-spent,

International capital flows must have been at the root of the problem,

Clinton has a concrete goal of getting China into the WTO, his near-term agenda is to get China in.

because the international banking system must also be at fault.

challenge the very concept of the 'war on terror.'

The US needs a cap and trade system with auctioning of licenses for emissions rights. The revenues from these auctions can be used to launch a new, environmentally friendly energy policy. That would be yet another federal program that could help us to overcome the stagnation.

The lower interest rates fueled housing and consumption booms in countries such as Spain and Ireland. At the same time, Germany, struggling with the burdens of reunification, tightened its belt and became more competitive. All this led to a wide divergence in economic performance. Europe became divided into creditor and debtor countries.

Germans tend to forget now that the euro was largely a Franco-German creation. No country has benefited more from the euro than Germany, both politically and economically. Therefore what has happened as a result of the introduction of the euro is largely Germany's its responsibility.

My original intention was to spend the money in my lifetime.

The more comprehensive and convincing a debt reduction program is, the less likely it is to fail. And remember, just as Germany is grateful to America for the Marshall Plan, Italy would be grateful to Germany for helping it lower its refinancing costs.

We in the United States are very often - since we are a democracy and we have national interests, we've often made the mistake that a democracy has to adopt America's interests, and that is a contradiction because a democracy basically is people deciding what their interests are.

America felt victorious and generous after World War II. They had also learned from the mistakes after World War I when they imposed punishment on Germany. What became of Germany? A Nazi dictatorship which threatened the world. Today's Germany doesn't feel as prosperous and generous as America then. But actually, Germany still is very prosperous.

Merkel has realized that the euro is not working, but she cannot change the narrative she has created because that narrative has caught the imagination of the German public, and the German public has accepted it.

China could easily emerge as the great winner if the Chinese leaders handle the situation well. On the other hand, they could also turn out to be the biggest losers if they handle it poorly. If the management turns out be wrong, this could lead to a political crisis in China.

Giving government aid to a bank basically transforms it into a utility. The huge salaries in this sector are only a symptom of a more profound misalignment. The profitability of the finance industry has been excessive. That is absurd.

Sometimes time actually works against you if you refuse to face the relevant issues and explain to the public what is at stake.

Hedge funds are a very efficient way of managing money. But there are clearly some risks. Hedge funds use credit and credit is a source of instability. Transactions involving credit should be regulated.

There is a well-established conviction that the central banks always do what is necessary to keep the system going and then afterwards you then take care of the legal aspects. In a crisis, you simply do not have time to think about such concerns for too long.

I admire Chancellor Merkel for her leadership qualities, but she is leading Europe in the wrong direction.

I have made it a principle to give advice that does not serve my personal interest but rather the common interests.

However, you have to recognize that regulations will never be completely successful and they will always be full of holes. You must constantly be ready to fill new holes. Actually regulation should be kept to a minimum, but there has to be some cooperation between market participants and authorities - as was the case in the early postwar years. The Bank of England was a very successful regulator by cooperating with market participants. This cooperative spirit was broken by the market fundamentalists.

However, even a strong government can't perform miracles. It needs money from the taxpayers.

I am against market fundamentalism. I think this propaganda that government involvement is always bad has been very successful - but also very harmful to our society.

This is the joint responsibility of everyone who was involved in the introduction of the euro without understanding the consequences. When the euro was introduced, the regulators allowed banks to buy unlimited amounts of government bonds without setting aside any equity capital. And the European Central Bank discounted all government bonds on equal terms. So commercial banks found it advantageous to accumulate the bonds of the weaker countries to earn a few extra basis points.

If every rich person gave 50 percent of their wealth to charity, I would not say they should pay more taxes.

Germany will always do the minimum to preserve the euro. Doing the minimum, though, will perpetuate the situation where the debtor countries in Europe have to pay tremendous premiums to refinance their debt. The result will be a Europe in which Germany is seen as an imperial power that will not be loved and admired by the rest of Europe - but hated and resisted, because it will perceived as an oppressive power.