Soros Speaks

Submitted by Tyler Durden
04/08/2011 17:31 -0400
232 comments

Unlike the last time a bunch of men gathered at Bretton Woods to determine the monetary fate of the world and set the stage for globalization, this time around the prevailing activity was a casting call for the role of the new Emperor Palpatine. Yet despite that (or maybe because of) George Soros appeared in full Open Society regalia and spoke to Bloomberg TV about how importing foreign asset collateral (also known as exporting debt) through "globalization" is still the name of the game. And obviously while the Hungarian billionaire would not disuss the true purpose for his presence in Bretton Woods, he did have some words of caution for China bulls: "while the big banks under direct central control are in fact refusing to lend, there is a shadow banking system that is growing out of control. There is a real danger there of wage price inflation because prices have gone up, particularly real estate prices have gone up because there was a real estate boom." But to those concerned about the key issue at play, namely the future of the reserve monetary system, some could interpret the following statement by Soros, as a tacit agreement that the end of the dollar is fast approaching: "cautionary words for the dollar: "There's a big question whether the U.S. dollar should be the main reserve currency and in fact it no longer is because it maybe accounts for two-thirds of the monetary reserves. The euro is an alternative and there's a lot of diversification into other currencies and even more into commodities. Not only gold, but actually oil is now an asset class for investors. That has put some upward pressure on the commodities." Of course what actually is decided in B-W will be made clear over the next year or so, once the decision makers have already placed their bets accordingly and pull the rug from under the market.

Video: Soros Says ECB Rate Hike "Inappropriate" in Debt Crisis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS27TUyV ... r_embedded

On stimulus vs. austerity and whether U.S. debt impacts the world:

"If you have a growing economy, you can tolerate a higher level of debt. And if you have too much debt and you have a recession, you get into what they called debt check. This is the big issue. "

"I am afraid it is overshadowed by political considerations. You have a financial crisis in Europe. There is the pressure of Spain and Portugal and so on. But debt is a different problem. Those countries are part of the European bloc and they are not in a position to issue their own currency. We can issue our own currency. In fact, the dollar is quite strong. It is really a matter of political judgment. That is where you have different opinions.â€