George Soros’s quotes- Part 2- George Soros rivals Warren Buffett for the title of most successful investor of all time. This post is about his quotes.
Tag: George Soros
About George Soros
George Soros is a legendary hedge fund manager who is widely considered to be one of the most successful investors of all time. Soros managed the Quantum Fund, a fund that achieved an average annual return of 30% from 1970 to 2000. He remains the chair of Soros Fund Management LLC. George Soros rivals Warren Buffett for the title of most successful investor of all time.
George Soros’s quotes- Part 2
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“The worse a situation becomes the less it takes to turn it around, the bigger the upside.” – George Soros
“Find the trend whose premise is false, and bet against it.” – George Soros
“This crisis has the potential to be a lot worse than Lehman Brothers.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“Increase your bets when you are confident and scale down your positions when you don’t have conviction.” – George Soros
“Democracy, by its very nature, can’t be imposed on people. Democracy has to be the people deciding for themselves.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
George Soros’s quotes- P2
“I’m only rich because I know when I’m wrong.” – George Soros
“I chose America as my home because I value freedom and democracy, civil liberties and an open society.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“Making an investment decision is like formulating a scientific hypothesis and submitting it to a practical test.” – George Soros
“Law has become a business. Health care has become a business. Unfortunately, politics has also become a business. That really undermines society.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“My main concern is with the world order” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“Whenever there is a conflict between universal principles and self-interest, self-interest is likely to prevail.” – George Soros
“Short term volatility is greatest at turning points and diminishes as a trend becomes established” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“If the bubbles contain a misconception, as they always do, then it can’t be maintained forever.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
George Soros’s quotes- P2
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“The dark comes before dawn. The financial markets are under great pressure because of the lack of leadership during the transition period.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“The laissez-faire argument relies on the same tacit appeal to perfection as does communism.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“There is always a divergence between our perception and what actually exists.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“Globalization has rendered the world increasingly interdependent, but international politics is still based on the sovereignty of states.” – George Soros
George Soros’s quotes- P2
“A full and fair discussion is essential to democracy.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“Studying economics is not a good preparation for dealing with it.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“Changeless society is characterized by the absense of alternatives.” – George Soros
“You could adjust the punishment to fit the infraction. Even a small fine would be enough to bring an errant government to heel.” – George Soros
“Political debate is more interested in manipulating the truth, than finding the truth.” – George Soros
“I fancied myself as some kind of god or an economic reformer like Keynes” – George Soros
“Start by assuming the market is always wrong, so if you copy everybody else on Wall Street, you’re doomed to do poorly.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“I rely a great deal on animal instincts.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“Sometimes time actually works against you if you refuse to face the relevant issues and explain to the public what is at stake.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“Every bubble has two components: something – some real trend, and a misconception about that trend.” – George Soros
“Now that I have called you on your false accusation, you are using additional smear tactics.” – George Soros
“It is much easier to put existing resources to better use, than to develop resources where they do not exist.” – George Soros
“The bureaucratic method of building an integrated Europe has exhausted its potential.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“My sense of insecurity keeps me alert, always ready to correct my errors.” – George Soros
“Markets are constantly in a state of uncertainty and flux and money is made by discounting the obvious and betting on the unexpected.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“Esperanto was a very useful language, because wherever you went, you found someone to speak with.” – George Soros
“Markets can influence the events that they anticipate.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
“I commissioned two political experts to advise me about what I could do to oppose the re-election of President Bush.” – George Soros
“My original intention was to spend the money in my lifetime.” – George Soros
“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.” – George Soros
People also search for: george soros quotes on investing, george soros famous quotes