The Future of Europe: An Interview with George Soros

It is funny to see the construction of Europe, which is arguably the first time in human history that different groups of people willingly tend towards a common political entity without external threat and blood spilled all over, criticised from inside and outside by the likes of Soros, who will never understand that finance is a tool and not an end. I hope Merkel and other Eurocrats will firmly continue to not listen to his &quot;well-intentioned free advices&quot;.<p>All proportions aside, it is a bit like those who criticize Wikipedia, which is one of the greatest production of human minds, just because some of their edits have been reverted.

If you don&#x27;t read the New York Review of Books already, and you like periodicals like the New Yorker and Economist, I recommend adding it to your list - and this article is a good example of why.<p>Also, this was such a great point by Soros from the interview: &quot;According to Max Planck, among others, subatomic phenomena have a dual character: they can manifest themselves as particles or waves. Something similar applies to human beings: they are part freestanding individuals or particles and partly components of larger entities that behave like waves. The impact they make on reality depends on which alternative dominates their behavior. There are potential tipping points from one alternative to the other but it is uncertain when they will occur and the uncertainty can be resolved only in retrospect.&quot;

Don&#x27;t waste your time trying to understand the rantings of this lunatic. Like many of the uber rich he made his money from being lucky and political connections not from actually learning anything new. His incoherent theories (e.g. reflexivity) are simply cover for whatever scheme he is currently perusing to gain even more weath and power.

This is a bit off the beaten track for HN, but thanks for posting it. It&#x27;s rare to see this sort of in-depth policy analysis in the click-driven daily news media. This is a very interesting time historically, but also a dangerous one. The Economist has also had some excellent coverage of these issues recently, not least a lengthy essay on democracy: <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/essays/21596796-democracy-was-most-successful-political-idea-20th-century-why-has-it-run-trouble-and-what-can-be-do" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.economist.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;essays&#x2F;21596796-democracy-was-...</a> and this editorial: <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21591853-century-there-are-uncomfortable-parallels-era-led-outbreak" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.economist.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;leaders&#x2F;21591853-century-there...</a>

Soros has been manipulating markets for his financial advantage. What&#x27;s new? He has speculated against the Euro and now he is unhappy with the outcome.

Soros: &quot;The incestuous relationship between national authorities and bank managements [is what&#x27;s wrong with European banking.] France in particular is famous for its inspecteurs de finance, who end up running its major banks. Germany has its Landesbanken and Spain its caixas, which have unhealthy connections with provincial politicians. These relationships were a major source of weakness in the European banking system and played an important part in the banking crisis that is still weighing on the eurozone. The proposed banking union should have eliminated them, but they were largely preserved, mainly at German insistence.&quot;

Soros juggles the facts in his favour -that&#x27;s for sure, but the general geopolitical picture is given about right. Like Germany being the dominant player in Europe and Russia helping out with Middle East chemical weapon. These are well-known facts, what would be really great to find out is what bonus the leader of the country brings to the table of his own nation and at what cost. Not sure, we&#x27;ll ever find out.

for someone who&#x27;s 83, that&#x27;s pretty clear thinking. thanks for posting.