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To: Joe NYC who wrote (6879)	1/7/1998 11:21:00 PM
From: synchro	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 152472

For Soros' original article attacking free markets, read <http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97feb/capital/capital.htm> For his latest missive, read <http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/98jan/opensoc.htm> <<Warning: way off topic, venting and ranting follows>> My problem w/ his thesis is that it is not at all clear that "laisser-faire" capitalism causes economic disaster, loss of freedom, disintegration of society, social injustice, etc., as he claimed. Frequently there are other powerful factors at work, chief among them misguided government policies, regulations and taxations. I would argue that the current state of economic affairs in the world are far from laisser-faire capitalism. Even in the U.S, whose economic arrangement is viewed w/ hatred and contempt by the European socialists (charitably called "social democrats"), pension has been socialized via the Social Security payroll tax, medicine has been partially socialized via Medicare, banking has been socialized via the FDIC insurance system, and the Fed has practically disallowed economic downturn and failure. Today we look upon the "geniuses" like Alan Greenspan to "fine-tune" monetary policy, Ira Magaziner to "fix" the health care system, Robert Reich to "liberate" the totured working class. Laisser-faire? Give me a break. Soro took the lessons learned in the rough-and-tumble world of currency/commodity speculation, and he then tried to build an utopian philosophy of this mushy concept called "Open Society" upon them. He is committing the very hubris and fallability that he decried in his article. F.A. Hayek said that it is precisely the intelligent man who tends to overvalue inteligence. Soro is one in a long string of geniuses that try to "improve" upon the extended market order. What is sad is that he will be used by the socialists and trade protectionists to legitimize their own misguided beliefs. Shame on him.