George Soros: Liberal, Advocate for an Open Society, Advocates for End of the Dollar

[Kade]

I a strong believer in the open society advocated by my contemporary liberal thinkers. Many of you still holding onto the Neo-Con definition of Liberals wouldn't understand that...

Anyway, a New York Times article today illustrates something I have mentioned before, the economic model of "Reflexitivity" advocated by George Soros and his Open Society Institute.

Face of a Prophet (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/business/11soros.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)

For all those that consistently criticize me for my rather modest and non-radical views, this is yet another opportunity to pounce on me.

Reflexitivity is loosely based on a psychological social model applied in the economy, Soros explains:

1. Reflexivity is best observed under special conditions where investor bias grows and spreads throughout the investment arena. Examples of factors that may give rise to this bias include (a) equity leveraging or (b) the trend-following habits of speculators.
2. Reflexivity appears intermittently since it is most likely to be revealed under certain conditions; i.e., the equilibrium process's character is best considered in terms of probabilities.
3. Investors' observation of and participation in the capital markets may at times influence valuations AND fundamental conditions or outcomes.


Anyway, I'd love to have a more intelligent debate about this issue, instead of the flames. I'm in a mood today though, so go ahead and jump.

[Aratus]

Kade, there is a marvelous scene in "Mr. Skeffington" where Bette Davis's character
visits her husband's workplace. He's into the markets. As she stops by to ask him out to
lunch, she and he are seperated by a crowd of co-workers who swirl in with buy and sell
orders as the markets do a rollercoaster ride. Lunch becomes impossible as he becomes
pulled into the lunacy of the trader's pit. Mr. SOROS is not the first person to notice how
a given intuitive psychological feel of the mood of the crowd at a given moment sometimes
outweighs the news about any actual economic indicators. the herd animal instincts, the
gambling den hysterias both boom and bust. the reason why brakes were created is these
unbridled impulses. the right or wrong move at a given instant can elongate a drop or cause
a speculative rise to leap ahead of a positive bull upsurge. cutting against the grain can
cause one to be penalized inside the big picture. Soros is trying to codify the habits of
a lifetime. Its not only ghemminger who is into a downturnish bear pessimism! one of the
books about William McKinley said that when he won the election of 1896, republican bankers
did not foreclose on people's mortgages, and they would have if the vote had gone the other
way. when they cut many of the farmers some slack, this allowed an upswing to happen...
with the gold rush in Alaska, the 20 to 1 ratio ceased to be as political an issue. gold was
both solid currency and inflationary. grain prices rose, futures rose. the economy heads out
of the doldrums for roughly 30 years, and it all was psychological. the eased up upon credit...

[Kade]

Kade, there is a marvelous scene in "Mr. Skeffington" where Bette Davis's character
visits her husband's workplace. He's into the markets. As she stops by to ask him out to
lunch, she and he are seperated by a crowd of co-workers who swirl in with buy and sell
orders as the markets do a rollercoaster ride. Lunch becomes impossible as he becomes
pulled into the lunacy of the trader's pit. Mr. SOROS is not the first person to notice how
a given intuitive psychological feel of the mood of the crowd at a given moment sometimes
outweighs the news about any actual economic indicators. the herd animal instincts, the
gambling den hysterias both boom and bust. the reason why brakes were created is these
unbridled impulses. the right or wrong move at a given instant can elongate a drop or cause
a speculative rise to leap ahead of a positive bull upsurge. cutting against the grain can
cause one to be penalized inside the big picture. Soros is trying to codify the habits of
a lifetime. Its not only ghemminger who is into a downturnish bear pessimism! one of the
books about William McKinley said that when he won the election of 1896, republican bankers
did not foreclose on people's mortgages, and they would have if the vote had gone the other
way. when they cut many of the farmers some slack, this allowed an upswing to happen...
with the gold rush in Alaska, the 20 to 1 ratio ceased to be as political an issue. gold was
both solid currency and inflationary. grain prices rose, futures rose. the economy heads out
of the doldrums for roughly 30 years, and it all was psychological. the eased up upon credit...

He may not be, doesn't mean his idea is wrong though.

Others can. I think most Maynard style evolutionary psychologists can...