Economic depression possible, says George Soros

[BankruptPinoy]

GEORGE Soros, famous investor and chairman of Soros Fund Management, has warned that the economy could enter a depression.

Testifying before a US Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the financial crisis, Mr Soros said "a deep recession is now inevitable and the possibility of a depression cannot be ruled out."

Mr Soros, who reportedly earns more than $100,000 an hour as a hedge fund manager, said the large, high-risk hedge funds will be "decimated" by the financial crisis.

The 78-year old, made famous by his market know-how and support of decriminalizing drugs, predicted hedge funds will loose up to 75 percent of their assets.

"I fully anticipated the worst financial crisis since the 1930s,'' said Mr Soros, whose fund is flat this year.

"But frankly, what has happened in the last eight weeks exceeded my expectations.''

It is impossible to stop market bubbles forming, said Mr Soros, who made billions speculating on global markets.

However bubbles can be kept within "tolerable bounds", and it should be government's responsibility to prevent future bubbles becoming too big, he said.

Mr Soros urged President-elect Barack Obama to make regulating finance a priority, so all new financial products would be approved by regulators.

http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0%2C27753%2C24650136-14334%2C00.html

[JRScott]

Perhaps Mr. Soros should use those billions he made in speculation to assist in the recovery since he's part of the problem.....

[PoorGrammyinBK7]

Has anyone ever wondered if people such as Soros could have somehow generated the economic crisis to happen shortly before the Presidential election?

[banca rotta]

Perhaps Mr. Soros should use those billions he made in speculation to assist in the recovery since he's part of the problem.....

Once again JRS You're so gooooood! This bum was part of the problem and used some of the profits to pay his far out left extremist friends at moveon.org to blame eveyone else.

I feel good now that Obama is president elect. He will tax the greedy rich people like Soros and spread his wealth to all of us poor people. Go Obama!

LOL

[fltoo]

LOL I look forward to your posts.
Such a sense of humor.

[JRScott]

Has anyone ever wondered if people such as Soros could have somehow generated the economic crisis to happen shortly before the Presidential election?

Alone even Soros does not have that much money, though he certainly could have affected it. We see Warren Buffet giving billions out, not seen Mr. Soros do that, so he certainly isn't helping the situation.

[JRScott]

Once again JRS You're so gooooood! This bum was part of the problem and used some of the profits to pay his far out left extremist friends at moveon.org to blame eveyone else.

I feel good now that Obama is president elect. He will tax the greedy rich people like Soros and spread his wealth to all of us poor people. Go Obama!

LOL

Mr. Soros probably does not have his money in US banks. Being his European I bet most of his money is in their banks....however they are in recession too.

[banca rotta]

LOL I look forward to your posts.
Such a sense of humor.

Too bad my humor is what more then half of the American people actually think will happen.

I really wouldn't mind redistributing Soros's and the rest of the rich liberals money around to all of us but that's not likely going to happen.

[banca rotta]

Mr. Soros probably does not have his money in US banks. Being his European I bet most of his money is in their banks....however they are in recession too.

Correct me if I am wrong but I don't think most other european nations have an FDIC type of insurance system in place. One bank run would wipe him out for good.

[WhatMoney]

There is not even a remotely close accurate reply in this topic about George Soros. Soros is one of the most interesting speculators, philosophers, investors, philanthropists, and political activists in the world still living today.

Soros is the founder of Soros Fund Management. In 1970 he co-founded the Quantum Fund with Jim Rogers, which created the bulk of the Soros fortune. I remember how I wanted to invest in his Quantum Fund in the 70's, but it was not open to US citizens at the time. In 2007, the Quantum Fund returned almost 32%, netting Soros $2.9 billion.

In an interview with The Washington Post on November 11, 2003, Soros said that removing President George W. Bush from office was the "central focus of my life" and "a matter of life and death." He said he would sacrifice his entire fortune to defeat President Bush, "if someone guaranteed it". [Just got to like someone like that. Too bad the religious right ignored their best interests and voted Bush back in. You are now suffering and will continue to suffer for your foolish vote in 2004.]

Soros gave $3 million to the Center for American Progress, committed $5 million to MoveOn, while he and his friend Peter Lewis each gave America Coming Together $10 million. (All were groups that worked to support Democrats in the 2004 election.) On September 28, 2004 he dedicated more money to the campaign and kicked off his own multi-state tour with a speech: Why We Must Not Re-elect President Bush, delivered at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The online transcript to this speech received many hits after Dick Cheney accidentally referred to FactCheck.org as "factcheck.com" in the Vice Presidential debate, causing the owner of that domain to redirect all traffic to Soros's site.

Soros isn't going to bail out the US banks anymore than Warren Buffet or Bill Gates are. He knows how to best allocate his fortune - and it isn't bailing out failure.

There is so much about Soros, enough for everyone to find something to love and hate. Here's a start, if you want to go beyond thoughtless one-liner political rhetoric:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Soros

[JRScott]

Soros made most of his money through speculation and that is correct Whatmoney whatever you think. He even admits to such in various tv interviews.

Warren Buffet has loaned money to various industries recently, at least he's trying to help. All George Soros has done for 8 years is push a leftist agenda and attack a president of the United States who did not agree with him.

[laurannm]

....who made billions speculating on global markets.

This pretty much sums up all you need to know about Mr. Soros....

[fltoo]

Since when is it a bad thing to make money? There is nothing wrong with making money speculating, oil or other. And, no one needs to spread their wealth if they don't want to.

My problem with Soros is that he used his money to support the extreme left wing agenda hell bent on attacking people and never coming up with a solution.

Why attack if you can't contribute something worthwhile?

Sure, I wish every rich person would help the less fortunate, but who is anyone to make it obligatory? I also wish that every middle class American would contribute to the needy. If you are going to fault a rich person for being rich and not sharing his wealth, then fault the middle class American for not sharing what he can.

Make your own money and give away whatever you want. If you are down to your last 50 bucks, give 10 of it away. Amazing what that will do for your mentality of entitlement.

[ssdsco]

I feel good now that Obama is president elect. He will tax the greedy rich people like Soros and spread his wealth to all of us poor people. Go Obama!

LOL

Ya, Go Obama ! Can't wait till January to get my federal healthcare card. Eliminate my income taxes...I earn less than $50,000 a year. Do a penalty-free withdrawal of $10,000 from my IRA. Get my Stimulus check. These greedy rich people must be able to pay a lot more in taxes because I thought the government was broke. Go socialism ! Drink more Kool-Aid !

[banca rotta]

Ya, Go Obama ! Can't wait till January to get my federal healthcare card. Eliminate my income taxes...I earn less than $50,000 a year. Do a penalty-free withdrawal of $10,000 from my IRA. Get my Stimulus check. These greedy rich people must be able to pay a lot more in taxes because I thought the government was broke. Go socialism ! Drink more Kool-Aid !

Now ya talkin!! A few years of this and we will be speaking Chinese in no time.

To get serious for a moment Soros who loves socialism will be hurt very bad with the way of life he is promoting.

The left wants exactly what you just said. Soros is helping this happen. Who will be hurt the most from this? Soros! Also the wealthy Hollywood elites. Doesn't add up.