George Soros And Paul Volcker Say It Like It Is

Not so long ago, bankers, regulators, and industry insiders went out of their way to avoid saying things that might be seen as alarmist or inflammatory. But a lot has changed over the past two years. Instead of being concerned about inciting panic, for instance, those who know what’s going now seem to feel almost duty-bound to spill the beans as bluntly and in as detailed a fashion as possible. In “Soros Sees no Bottom for World Financial ‘Collapse,’” Reuters reports on the scary prognostications of two well-regarded old hands of the financial world.

Renowned investor George Soros said on Friday the world financial system has effectively disintegrated, adding that there is yet no prospect of a near-term resolution to the crisis.

Soros said the turbulence is actually more severe than during the Great Depression, comparing the current situation to the demise of the Soviet Union.

He said the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September marked a turning point in the functioning of the market system.

“We witnessed the collapse of the financial system,” Soros said at a Columbia University dinner. “It was placed on life support, and it’s still on life support. There’s no sign that we are anywhere near a bottom.”

His comments echoed those made earlier at the same conference by Paul Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman who is now a top adviser to President Barack Obama.

Volcker said industrial production around the world was declining even more rapidly than in the United States, which is itself under severe strain.

“I don’t remember any time, maybe even in the Great Depression, when things went down quite so fast, quite so uniformly around the world,” Volcker said.

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