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Market Prices Are Always Wrong In The Sense That They Present A Biased View Of The Future.
-George Soros
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Market Prices Are Always

George Soros
...
Market Prices Are Always Wrong In The Sense That They Present A Biased View Of The Future.

Understanding the Quote: "market prices are always wrong in the sense that they present a..."

This quote by George Soros reflects deeply on the theme of views. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Views, Biased, Always Wrong, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how George Soros interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About George Soros

George Soros is celebrated for insightful thoughts on views and biased. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

Views: 15
Topic
Views
Biased
Always Wrong
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I Called Gold The Ultimate Bubble, Which Means It May Go Higher. But It’s Certainly Not Safe And It’s Not Going To Last Forever.
Mean
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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.
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There Is Always A Divergence Between Our Perception And What Actually Exists.
Perception
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Democracy, By Its Very Nature, Can't Be Imposed On People. Democracy Has To Be The People Deciding For Themselves.
Democracies Have
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In 2012, The Far-right Golden Dawn Won 21 Seats In Greece's Parliamentary Election, The Right-wing Jobbik Gained Ground In My Native Hungary, And The National Front's Marine Le Pen Received Strong Backing In France's Presidential Election. Growing Support For Similar Forces Across Europe Points To An Inescapable Conclusion: The Continent's Prolonged Financial Crisis Is Creating A Crisis Of Values That Is Now Threatening The European Union Itself.
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I Am For Maximum Supervision And Minimum Regulation.
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Supervision
Outperforming The Market With Low Volatility On A Consistent Basis Is An Impossibility. I Outperformed The Market For 30-odd Years, But Not With Low Volatility.
Years
Risk
Management
The Laissez-faire Argument Relies On The Same Tacit Appeal To Perfection As Does Communism.
Perfection
Laissez Faire Capitalism
Doe
If The Bubbles Contain A Misconception, As They Always Do, Then It Can't Be Maintained Forever.
Forever
Ifs
Misconception
Every Bubble Consists Of A Trend That Can Be Observed In The Real World And A Misconception Relating To That Trend. The Two Elements Interact With Each Other In A Reflexive Manner.
Real
Two
Investing
I Chose America As My Home Because I Value Freedom And Democracy, Civil Liberties And An Open Society.
Freedom
Home
America
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.
Ideas
Way
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I Am Not A Zionist, Nor Am I Am A Practicing Jew, But I Have A Great Deal Of Sympathy For My Fellow Jews And A Deep Concern For The Survival Of Israel.
Israel
Survival
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If We Carry This Line Of Argument To Its Logical Conclusion, The Meaning Of Life Consists Of The Flaws In One's Conceptions And What One Does About Them. Life Can Be Seen As A Fertile Fallacy.
Meaning Of Life
Doe
Investing
Stock Market Bubbles Don't Grow Out Of Thin Air. They Have A Solid Basis In Reality, But Reality As Distorted By A Misconception.
Reality
Air
Successful Investing
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.
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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.
Successful
Years
Broken
What Works For Germany Can't Work For The Rest Of Europe: No Country Can Run A Chronic Surplus Without Others Running Deficits.
Running
Country
Europe
The Securitisation Of Mortgages Added A New Dimension Of Systemic Risk. Financial Engineers Claimed They Were Reducing Risks Through Geographic Diversification: In Fact They Were Increasing Them By Creating An Agency Problem. The Agents Were More Interested In Maximising Fee Income Than In Protecting The Interests Of Bondholders. That Is The Verity That Was Ignored By Regulators And Market Participants Alike.
Creating
Agency
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My Approach Works Not By Making Valid Predictions But By Allowing Me To Correct False Ones.
Predictions
Approach
Allowing
If Truth Be Known, I Carried Some Rather Potent Messianic Fantasies With Me From Childhood Which I Felt I Had To Control, Otherwise I Might End Up In The Loony Bin. But When I Made My Way In The World I Wanted To Indulge Myself In My Fantasies To The Extent That I Could Afford.
Childhood
World
Might
President George W. Bush Is Endangering The United States And The World's Safety While Undermining American Values.
Hurt
Safety
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The Main Enemy Of The Open Society, I Believe, Is No Longer The Communist But The Capitalist Threat.
Believe
Enemy
Laissez Faire Capitalism
Studying Economics Is Not A Good Preparation For Dealing With It.
Preparation
Study
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Any Central Bank Should Only Be In Charge Of Liquidity. Solvency Is A Matter For The Treasury.
Matter
Should
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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.
Work
Believe
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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.
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People
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The Main Obstacle To A Stable And Just World Order Is The United States. [this Idea] Happens To Coincide With The Prevailing Opinion In The World. And I Think That's Rather Shocking For Americans To Hear.
Thinking
Order
Ideas
Unfortunately, The More Complex The System, The Greater The Room For Error.
Errors
Investing
Rooms
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.
Great Inventions
Needs
Looks
The Only Thing That Could Hurt Me Is If My Success Encouraged Me To Return To My Childhood Fantasies Of Omnipotence - But That Is Not Likely To Happen As Long As I Remain Engaged In The Financial Markets, Because They Constantly Remind Me Of My Limitations.
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It Is Sort Of A Disease When You Consider Yourself Some Kind Of God, The Creator Of Everything, But I Feel Comfortable About It Now Since I Began To Live It Out.
Disease
Kind
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Financial Markets ... Resent Any Kind Of Government Interference But They Hold A Belief Deep Down That If Conditions Get Really Rough The Authorities Will Step In.
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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.
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A Global Economy Is Characterized Not Only By The Free Movement Of Goods And Services But, More Important, By The Free Movement Of Ideas And Of Capital.
Ideas
Important
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The Concept Of A General Equilibrium Has No Relevance To The Real World (in Other Words, Classical Economics Is An Exercise In Futility).
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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.
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Most Of The Poverty And Misery In The World Is Due To Bad Government, Lack Of Democracy, Weak States, Internal Strife, And So On.
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Democracy
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My Sense Of Insecurity Keeps Me Alert, Always Ready To Correct My Errors.
Errors
Insecurity
Ready
As An Anonymous Participant In Financial Markets, I Never Had To Weigh The Social Consequences Of My Actions ... I Felt Justified In Ignoring Them On The Grounds That I Was Playing By The Rules.
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We Can Speak Of The Triumph Of Capitalism In The World, But We Cannot Yet Speak About The Triumph Of Democracy. There Is A Serious Mismatch Between The Political And The Economic Conditions That Prevail In The World Today.
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The Financial Markets Play An Active Role In Determining What's Going To Happen, How The Economy Is Going To Function.
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Start By Assuming The Market Is Always Wrong, So If You Copy Everybody Else On Wall Street, You're Doomed To Do Poorly.
Wall
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Streets
I Call Government That Works The Best For People Open Society, Which Is Basically Just Another More General Term For A Democracy That Is - You Call It Maybe A Liberal Democracy. It's Not Only Majority Rule But Also Respect For Minorities And Minority Opinions And The Rule Of Law. So It's Really A Sort Of Institutional Democracy.
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Law
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Find The Trend Whose Premise Is False, And Bet Against It.
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Political Debate Is More Interested In Manipulating The Truth, Than Finding The Truth.
Political
Debate
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There Is No Question That A Breakup Of The Euro Would Be Very Damaging, Very Costly, Both Financially And Politically. And The Biggest Loss Would Be Incurred By Germany. Germans Have To Bear In Mind That, Effectively, They Have Suffered Practically No Losses So Far. Transfers Have All Been In The Form Of Loans, And It Is Only When The Loans Are Not Repaid That Real Losses Will Be Incurred.
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I Used To Be Opposed To The Idea Of Social Entrepreneurship. I Said, You Know, Let Business Be Business, And Philanthropy Be Philanthropy. Keep The Two Separate, Don't Mix It Up, And This Is What I Did, And I Did That Rather Successfully, But I Now Recognize That Actually You Do Need To Mix It Up And I Think There Is Room For Social Entrepreneurship.
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Two
Advocating Democracy Has, By Other People, Often Been Taken As A Form Of Imperialism, And Not Without Some Justification. So The Important Thing In A Democracy Is That It Doesn't Necessarily Have To Agree With What America's Interests Are, And It Doesn't Necessarily Have To Be Serving American Interests.
Taken
Democracies Have
America
The Prevailing Wisdom Is That Markets Are Always Right. I Take The Opposite Position. I Assume That Markets Are Always Wrong.
Opposites
Assuming
Prevailing
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.
Degrees
Economy
Members
Of Course, Speculation Will Always Make A Crisis Worse. If There Is A Weak Point, It Will Expose It.
Weak Points
Crisis
Speculation
I'm Only Rich Because I Know When I'm Wrong...i Basically Have Survived By Recognizing My Mistakes.
Money
Mistake
Wealth
Markets Are Constantly In A State Of Uncertainty And Flux And Money Is Made By Discounting The Obvious And Betting On The Unexpected.
Investing
Unexpected
Financial
If We Care About Universal Principles Such As Freedom, Democracy And The Rule Of Law, We Cannot Leave Them To The Care Of Market Forces; We Must Establish Some Other Institutions To Safeguard Them.
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Democracy
Principles
Mankind's Ability To Understand And Control The Forces Of Nature Greatly Exceeds Our Ability To Govern Ourselves
Inspirational
Force
Mankind
You Could Adjust The Punishment To Fit The Infraction. Even A Small Fine Would Be Enough To Bring An Errant Government To Heel.
Government
Punishment
Would Be
Every Bubble Has Two Components: Something - Some Real Trend, And A Misconception About That Trend.
Real
Two
Trends
At Times Of Recession, Running A Budget Deficit Is Highly Desirable. Once The Economy Begins To Recover, You Have To Balance The Budget. But It Will Also Need Additional Revenues. Should The Government Not Receive Them, We Will All Get Punished With Higher Interest Rates.
Running
Government
Over You
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.
Country
Marijuana
Substance
I Don't Use My Money To Gain Political Influence For My Private Interests, Which Is What Many Rich People Do, And What, In A Sense, Market Fundamentalism Does, Because It Is In The Interests Of People Who Have A Lot Of Money To Have As Little Taxes As Possible.
People
Political
Doe
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.
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As A Society We Can't Live Without Moral Considerations. We Do Have To Protect The Public Good. And Markets Are Not Designed To Do That, So We Need A Political Process.
Political
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There Is No Doubt That The Countries That Now Have A Very Large Debt Have Not Introduced The Kind Of Structural Reforms That Germany Did And Are Therefore At A Disadvantage. But The Problem Is That This Disadvantage Is Becoming Even More Pronounced Through The Punitive Policies In Place.
Country
Doubt
Reform
The Bureaucratic Method Of Building An Integrated Europe Has Exhausted Its Potential.
Europe
Exhausted
Building
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.
Country
Responsibility
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American Supremacy Is The Greatest Threat To The World Today.
World
Today
Supremacy
I Commissioned Two Political Experts To Advise Me About What I Could Do To Oppose The Re-election Of President Bush.
Two
Political
President
Misconceptions Play A Prominent Role In My View Of The World.
Views
Play
Roles
Once We Realize That Imperfect Understanding Is The Human Condition There Is No Shame In Being Wrong, Only In Failing To Correct Our Mistakes.
Mistake
Failure
Understanding
The Eurozone Status Quo Is Neither Tolerable Nor Stable. Mainstream Economists Would Call It An Inferior Equilibrium; I Call It A Nightmare - One That Is Inflicting Tremendous Pain And Suffering That Could Be Easily Avoided If The Misconceptions And Taboos That Sustain It Were Dispelled.
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The Sovereignty Of States Must Be Subordinated To International Law And International Institutions.
Law
States
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I'm Not Better Than The Next Trader, Just Quicker At Admitting My Mistakes And Moving On To The Next Opportunity.
Mistake
Moving
Opportunity
Market Prices Are Always Wrong In The Sense That They Present A Biased View Of The Future.
Views
Biased
Always Wrong
I Contend That Financial Markets Never Reflect The Underlying Reality Accurately; They Always Distort It In Some Way Or Another And The Distortions Find Expression In Market Prices. Those Distortions Can, Occasionally, Find Ways To Affect The Fundamentals That Market Prices Are Supposed To Reflect.
Reality
Expression
Investing
I Very Often Used To Get Backaches Due To The Fact That I Was Wrong. Whenever You Are Wrong You Have To Fight Or [take] Flight. When [i] Make The Decision, The Backache Goes Away.
Fighting
Decision
Investing
One Of The Myths Propagated By The Enemies Of Israel Is That There Is An All-powerful Zionist Conspiracy. That Is A False Accusation. Nevertheless, That Aipac Has Been So Successful In Suppressing Criticism Has Lent Some Credence To Such False Beliefs.
Powerful
Successful
Israel
Although I Have Made A Fortune In The Financial Markets, I Now Fear That The Untrammeled Intensification Of Laissez-faire Capitalism And The Spread Of Market Values Into All Areas Of Life Is Endangering Our Open And Democratic Society. The Main Enemy Of The Open Society, I Believe, Is No Longer The Communist But The Capitalist Threat.
Believe
Enemy
Society
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.
Powerful
Organization
Quagmire
I Have Made It A Principle To Give Advice That Does Not Serve My Personal Interest But Rather The Common Interests.
Giving
Advice
Principles
The Integration Of Europe Was Very Much Led By A Germany That Was Always Willing To Pay A Little Bit Extra To Reach A Compromise That Everybody Accepted, Because Germany Was So Eager To Get European Support For Reunification. That Was Called The "farsighted Vision," Which Created The European Union.
Europe
Support
Vision
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.
Thinking
Long
Care
If The Choice Is Between Cooking Alive And Wasting Money Unnecessarily I Would Rather Waste Some Money, Because Long Before We Cook We Are Going To Kill Each Other If We Don't Deal With Climate Change.
Long
Choices
Cooking
The Assumption Of Perfect Knowledge Is Very Far From Reality ... A Lot Of The Evil In The World Is Actually Not Intentional.
Reality
Evil
Perfect
It Is Credit That Matters, Not Money (in Other Words, Monetarism Is A False Ideology).
Investing
Credit
Matter
My Main Concern Is With The World Order
Order
World
Concern
Once A Trend Is Established It Tends To Persist And To Run It’s Full Course.
Running
Trends
Persist
Taking This View, It Is Possible To See Financial Markets As A Laboratory For Testing Hypotheses, Albeit Not Strictly Scientific Ones. The Truth Is, Successful Investing Is A Kind Of Alchemy.
Successful
Views
Investing
Markets Can Influence The Events That They Anticipate.
Events
Influence
Anticipate
I Passionately Disagreed With Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's Plan To Bail Out The Banks By Using A Public Fund Called The Troubled Asset Relief Program (tarp) To Help Banks Take Toxic Assets Off Their Balance Sheets. I Argued That It Would Be Much Better To Put The Money Where The Hole Was And Replenish The Equity Of The Banks Themselves.
Balance
Toxic
Relief
We Must Not Forget; But We Must Forgive. Suffering Often Such Compassion From The Jewish Community. It Was Jewish Groups In The Us Who Were In The Forefront In Opposing The Ethnic Cleansing Of Muslim In Bosnia.
Compassion
Community
Forgiving
You Need A Government That Believes In Government. It Also Believes In Markets And Wants To Give Markets The Best, The Greatest Opportunity, But Is Trying To Govern Well.
Believe
Opportunity
Government
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.
Foundation
Principles
My Family
When You Sell Options, You Get Paid For Assuming Risk. That Can Be A Profitable Business, But It Does Not Mix Well With The Risks Inherent In A Leveraged Portfolio.
Risk
Doe
Investing
The Main Obstacle To A Stable And Just World Order Is The United States.
Order
United States
World
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.
Marijuana
Law
Alcohol
Economic History Is A Never-ending Series Of Episodes Based On Falsehoods And Lies, Not Truths. It Represents The Path To Big Money. The Object Is To Recognize The Trend Whose Premise Is False, Ride That Trend And Step Off Before It Is Discredited.
Lying
Economic History
Trends
Esperanto Was A Very Useful Language, Because Wherever You Went, You Found Someone To Speak With.
Found Someone
Esperanto
Language
However, Even A Strong Government Can't Perform Miracles. It Needs Money From The Taxpayers.
Strong
Government
Miracle
The Ultimate Asset Bubble Is Gold.
Gold
Assets
Ultimate
An Open Society Calls Itself Open To Improvement. It Is Based On The Recognition That People Have Divergent Views And Interests, And That Nobody Is In Possession Of The Ultimate Truth.
Views
People
Divergent
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.
Marijuana
Organization
Mexico
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.
People
Leader
Needs
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.
Mistake
Democracies Have
America
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.
Leadership
Responsibility
Humanity
The Hardest Thing To Judge Is What Level Of Risk Is Safe.
Judging
Risk
Investing
My Conceptual Framework, Which Basically Emphasizes The Importance Of Misconceptions, Makes Me Extremely Critical Of My Own Decisions. I Know That I Am Bound To Be Wrong, And Therefore Am More Likely To Correct My Own Mistakes.
Mistake
Decision
Framework
Making An Investment Decision Is Like Formulating A Scientific Hypothesis And Submitting It To A Practical Test.
Decision
Tests
Investment
Everything Adds Up To A Major Crisis. Humanity Is Faced With A Global Energy Crisis ... The Core Of The Crisis Lies In The Increasing Shortage Of Oil.
Lying
Oil
Humanity
In Certain Circumstances, Financial Markets Can Affect The So-called Fundamentals Which They Are Supposed To Reflect. When That Happens, Markets Enter Into A State Of Dynamic Disequilibrium And Behave Quite Differently From What Would Be Considered Normal By The Theory Of Efficient Markets. Such Boom/bust Sequences Do Not Arise Very Often, But When They Do, They Can Be Very Disruptive, Exactly Because They Affect The Fundamentals Of The Economy.
Would Be
Fundamentals
Normal
When A Long-term Trend Loses It’s Momentum, Short-term Volatility Tends To Rise. It Is Easy To See Why That Should Be So: The Trend-following Crowd Is Disoriented.
Long
Momentum
Crowds
Increase Your Bets When You Are Confident And Scale Down Your Positions When You Don't Have Conviction.
Conviction
Increase
Scales
As I Discovered, There Is A Great Deal Of Similarity Between A Boom-bust Process In The Financial Markets And The Rise And Fall Of The Soviet System.
Fall
Investing
Financial
I Am Not Well Qualified To Criticize The Theory Of Rational Expectations And The Efficient Market Hypothesis Because As A Market Participant I Considered Them So Unrealistic That I Never Bothered To Study Them.
Expectations
Study
Theory
Short Term Volatility Is Greatest At Turning Points And Diminishes As A Trend Becomes Established
Trends
Volatility
Term
In Politics, Manipulating Reality Can Take Presidence Over Finding Reality.
Reality
Findings
Whenever There Is A Conflict Between Universal Principles And Self-interest, Self-interest Is Likely To Prevail.
Self
Principles
Investing
Well, You Know, I Was A Human Being Before I Became A Businessman.
Business
Wells
Humans
Discount The Obvious, Bet On The Unexpected
Unexpected
Obvious
Discounts
Market Prices Are Always Wrong.
Always Wrong
Markets Are Imperfect. So You Do Need Regulation, Knowing That The Regulators Are Also Human.
Knowing
Needs
Regulation
The Pro-israel Lobby Has Been Remarkably Successful In Suppressing Criticism. Politicians Challenge It At Their Peril Because Of The Lobby's Ability To Influence Political Contributions.
Successful
Israel
Political
By Creating The European Central Bank, The Member States Exposed Their Own Government Bonds To The Risk Of Default. Developed Countries That Issue Bonds In Their Own Currency Never Default, Because They Can Always Print Money. Their Currency May Depreciate, But The Risk Of Default Is Absent.
Country
Government
Creating
If Investing Is Entertaining, If You're Having Fun, You're Probably Not Making Any Money. Good Investing Is Boring.
Fun
Investing Money
Boring
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.
Country
Struggle
Europe
Changeless Society Is Characterized By The Absense Of Alternatives.
Alternatives
The Key Problem Is The Debt Restructuring In The Euro Zone. As Long As The Debt Burden Is Not Reduced, There Is No Chance Of The Weaker Eu Countries Regaining Competitiveness.
Country
Keys
Long
The World Order Needs A Major Overhaul.
Order
Needs
World
If I Had To Sum Up My Practical Skills, I Would Use One Word: Survival. And Operating A Hedge Fund Utilized My Training In Survival To The Fullest.
Skills
Survival
Training
The Generally Accepted View Is That Markets Are Always Right -- That Is, Market Prices Tend To Discount Future Developments Accurately Even When It Is Unclear What Those Developments Are. I Start With The Opposite View. I Believe The Market Prices Are Always Wrong In The Sense That They Present A Biased View Of The Future.
Believe
Views
Opposites
It Is Much Easier To Put Existing Resources To Better Use, Than To Develop Resources Where They Do Not Exist.
Use
Investing
Easier
The Trouble With Institutional Investors Is That Their Performance Is Usually Measured Relative To Their Peer Group And Not By An Absolute Yardstick. This Makes Them Trend Followers By Definition.
Groups
Peers
Followers
The Dark Comes Before Dawn. The Financial Markets Are Under Great Pressure Because Of The Lack Of Leadership During The Transition Period.
Dark
Dawn
Transition
Fundamental Analysis Seeks To Establish How Underlying Values Are Reflected In Stock Prices, Whereas The Theory Of Reflexivity Shows How Stock Prices Can Influence Underlying Values
Analysis
Fundamentals
Influence
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.
Imagination
Narrative
Accepted
This Crisis Has The Potential To Be A Lot Worse Than Lehman Brothers.
Brother
Lehman Brothers
Crisis
I Rely A Great Deal On Animal Instincts.
Animal
Instinct
Deals
The Collapse Of The Global Marketplace Would Be A Traumatic Event With Unimaginable Consequences. Yet I Find It Easier To Imagine Than The Continuation Of The Present Regime.
Would Be
Events
Imagine
I Think That My Foundation Uses The Money Better Than The Government Does. In Any Event, I Do Pay Taxes.
Thinking
Government
Foundation
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.
Rights
Friendly
Overcoming
I'll Tell You What I'd Do If It Were Up To Me: I Would Establish A Strictly Controlled Distribution Network Through Which I Would Make Most Drugs, Excluding The Most Dangerous Ones Like Crack, Legally Available. Initially I Would Keep The Prices Low Enough To Destroy The Drug Trade. Once That Objective Was Attained I Would Keep Raising The Prices, Very Much Like The Excise Duty On Cigarettes, But I Would Make An Exception For Registered Addicts In Order To Discourage Crime. I Would Use A Portion Of The Income For Prevention And Treatment. And I Would Foster Social Opprobrium Of Drug Use.
Drug Use
Order
Cracks
Making An Investment Decision Is Like Formulating A Scientific Hypothesis And Submitting It To A Practical Test. The Main Difference Is That The Hypothesis That Underlies An Investment Decision Is Intended To Make Money And Not To Establish A Universally Valid Generalization.
Differences
Decision
Investing
It's Not Whether You're Right Or Wrong That's Important, But How Much Money You Make When You're Right And How Much You Lose When You're Wrong
Business
Important
Saving
The Strength Of This Country Lies In The Declaration Of Independence And The Bill Of Rights And The Freedom Of Speech And Thought.
Country
Lying
Rights
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.
Marijuana
Dollars
Enforcement
The Main Difference Between Me And Other People Who Have Amassed This Kind Of Money Is That I Am Primarily Interested In Ideas, And I Don't Have Much Personal Use For Money.
Money
Ideas
Differences
To Be Successful, You Need Leisure. You Need Time Hanging Heavily On Your Hands.
Successful
Hands
Needs
I Wish I Could Write A Book That Will Be Read For As Long As Our Civilization Lasts. I Would Value It Much More Highly Than Any Business Success If I Could Contribute To An Understanding Of The World In Which We Live Or, Better Yet, If I Could Help To Preserve The Economic And Political System That Has Allowed Me To Flourish As A Participant.
Book
Writing
Civilization
I Don't Panic. The Same Thing Applies To Me As To Everybody Else, So I'm Given To Euphoria And Despair. And I Would Say That I Basically Have Survived By Recognizing My Mistakes.
Mistake
Despair
Panic
I Would Be Lying, However, If I Claimed That I Could Always Formulate Worthwhile Hypotheses On The Basis Of My Theoretical Framework. Sometimes There Were No Reflexive Processes To Be Found; Sometimes I Failed To Find Them; And, What Was The Most Painful Of All, Sometimes I Got Them Wrong. One Way Or Another, I Often Invested Without A Worthwhile Hypothesis And My Activities Were Not Very Different From A Random Walk.
Lying
Different
Would Be
To Others, Being Wrong Is A Source Of Shame; To Me, Recognizing My Mistakes Is A Source Of Pride.
Mistake
Pride
Shame
Revolutions Usually Start With Enthusiasm And End In Tears.
Tears
Enthusiasm
Revolution
Financial Markets Are Supposed To Swing Like A Pendulum: They May Fluctuate Wildly In Response To Exogenous Shocks, But Eventually They Are Supposed To Come To Rest At An Equilibrium Point And That Point Is Supposed To Be The Same Irrespective Of The Interim Fluctuations. Instead, As I Told Congress, Financial Markets Behaved More Like A Wrecking Ball, Swinging From Country To Country And Knocking Over The Weaker Ones. It Is Difficult To Escape The Conclusion That The International Financial System Itself Constituted The Main Ingredient In The Meltdown Process.
Country
Swings
Balls
If Every Rich Person Gave 50 Percent Of Their Wealth To Charity, I Would Not Say They Should Pay More Taxes.
Charity
Pay
Wealth
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.
People
Being Free
Firsts
When Interest Rates Are Low We Have Conditions For Asset Bubbles To Develop, And They Are Developing At The Moment. The Ultimate Asset Bubble Is Gold.
Gold
Investing
Moments
The World Is Looking To Us For Leadership. We Have Provided It In The Past; The Main Reason Why Anti-american Feelings Are So Strong In The World Today Is That We Are Not Providing It In The Present.
Strong
Past
Feelings
Money Values Do Not Simply Mirror The State Of Affairs In The Real World; Valuation Is A Positive Act That Makes An Impact On The Course Of Events. Monetary And Real Phenomena Are Connected In A Reflexive Fashion; That Is, They Influence Each Other Mutually. The Reflexive Relationship Manifests Itself Most Clearly In The Use And Abuse Of Credit.
Fashion
Real
Impact
The Worse A Situation Becomes The Less It Takes To Turn It Around, The Bigger The Upside.
Bigger
Situation
Turns
Law Has Become A Business. Health Care Has Become A Business. Unfortunately, Politics Has Also Become A Business. That Really Undermines Society.
Law
Care
Health Care
It Is Better To Have A Cat And Mouse Game Where The Cat Has The Upper Hand Than A Cat And Mouse Game Where The Mice Are Ruling. Because The Latter Means That The Market Participants Are Given Free Range. That Was Actually The Big Misconception Of Our National Hero Ronald Reagan, Who Always Talked About The Magic Of The Market.
Hero
Mean
Cat
Playing By The Rules, One Does The Best He Can, Irrespective Of The Social Consequences. Whereas In Making The Rules, People Ought To Be Concerned With The Social Consequences And Not With Their Personal Interests.
People
Doe
Social
We Are Trying To Make The World A Better Place, But That Is Not Necessarily What We Accomplish. Many Of The Problems Which Preoccupy Us Are Basically Insoluble.
Trying
World
Problem
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.
War
Military
Iraq
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.
People
Evil
World
No Individual Anonymous Participant Can Influence The Prices And Therefore You Really Can Speculate In The Market Without Paying Attention To Morality. That's One Of The Positive Features Of Markets. That's Why They Function.
Attention
Morality
Influence
These Public-private Partnerships Are Very, Very Dangerous. The Most Rotten Part Of The Financial System In The Us Consisted Of The Government Sponsored Entities, Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac. They Really Kicked Off This Crisis. The State Should Set The Rules And Enforce Them - But Not Become Involved As A Market Player.
Player
Government
Rotten
We [at Soros Fund Management] Use Options And More Exotic Derivatives Sparingly. We Try To Catch New Trends Early And In Later Stages We Try To Catch Trend Reversals. Therefore, We Tend To Stabilize Rather Than Destabilize The Market. We Are Not Doing This As A Public Service. It Is Our Style Of Making Money.
Style
Trying
Use
Economics Seeks To Be A Science. Science Is Supposed To Be Objective And It Is Difficult To Be Scientific When The Subject Matter, The Participant In The Economic Process, Lacks Objectivity.
Objectivity
Investing
Matter
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 Was Absurd.
Government
Giving
Profound
Sometimes Time Actually Works Against You If You Refuse To Face The Relevant Issues And Explain To The Public What Is At Stake.
Issues
Faces
Sometimes
I Fancied Myself As Some Kind Of God Or An Economic Reformer Like Keynes
Kind
Economic
Keynes
In The Case Of A Meltdown, The Regulatory Authorities May Find Themselves Obliged To Step In To Preserve The Integrity Of The System. It Is In That Light That The Authorities Have Both A Right And An Obligation To Supervise And Regulate Derivative Instruments.
Integrity
Light
Investing
I Think It Is Natural That Every Country Has To Take Care Of Its Interests, But There Are Some Interests That Are Common To All Countries. There Are Some Human Interests, Or We Need Also International Cooperation. We've Sometimes Confused It With Dictation.
Country
Confused
Thinking
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.
Successful
Thinking
Government
I Admire Chancellor Merkel For Her Leadership Qualities, But She Is Leading Europe In The Wrong Direction.
Europe
Quality
Admire
America Needs To Follow The Policies It Has Introduced In Germany. We Have To Go Through A Certain De-nazification Process.
America
Germany
Needs
The Global Crisis Is Caused By Pathologies Inherent In The Global Financial System Itself.
Financial
Pathology
Crisis
I'm Only Rich Because I Know When I'm Wrong.
Making Money
Rich
Knows
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.
Grateful
America
Germany
There Is Very Little Difference Between Speculation And Investment. The Only Difference Is Basically That Investments Are Successful Speculations Because If You Successfully Anticipate The Future You Make A Speculative Profit.
Successful
Differences
Littles
Globalization Has Rendered The World Increasingly Interdependent, But International Politics Is Still Based On The Sovereignty Of States.
Investing
World
Economy
The Reality Is That Financial Markets Are Self-destabilizing; Occasionally They Tend Toward Disequilibrium, Not Equilibrium.
Reality
Self
Financial
When Money Is Free, The Rational Lender Will Keep On Lending Until There Is No One Else To Lend To.
Investing
Lending
Rational
There Is No Point In Being Confident And Having A Small Position.
Be Confident
Position
No Point
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.
Country
Responsibility
Germany
Investors Operate With Limited Funds And Intelligence, They Do Not Need To Know Everything. As Long As They Understand Something Better Than Others, They Have An Edge.
Long
Needs
Something Better
Now That I Have Called You On Your False Accusation, You Are Using Additional Smear Tactics.
Fake People
Smear Campaigns
Tactics
Anticipating Attacks, I Should Like To Emphasize That I Do Not Subscribe To The Myths Propagated By Enemies Of Israel And I Am Not Blaming Jews For Anti-semitism. Anti-semitism Predates The Birth Of Israel. Neither Israel's Policies Nor The Critics Of Those Policies Should Be Held Responsible For Anti-semitism. At The Same Time, I Do Believe That Attitudes Toward Israel Are Influenced By Israel's Policies, And Attitudes Toward The Jewish Community Are Influenced By The Pro-israel Lobby's Success In Suppressing Divergent Views.
Attitude
Believe
Israel
A Full And Fair Discussion Is Essential To Democracy.
Political
Democracy
Essentials
My Original Intention Was To Spend The Money In My Lifetime.
Lifetime
Intention
Originals
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.
Thinking
Financial
Unstable
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.
Risk
Use
Credit
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.
Europe
Administration
Doe
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.
Thinking
Merit
Needs
The Scope For Improvement Is Infinite, Precisely Because Perfection Is Unattainable.
Perfection
Unattainable
Improvement
The Generally Accepted Theory Is That Financial Markets Tend Towards Equilibrium, And...discount The Future Correctly. I Operate Using A Different Theory, According To Which Financial Markets Cannot Possibly Discount The Future Correctly Because The Do Not Merely Discount The Future; They Help To Shape It.
Shapes
Different
Helping
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.
Country
Years
Giving
Trending Author
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