The Crash of 2008 and What It Means

The New Paradigm for Financial Markets

By: George Soros

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

In the midst of one of the most serious financial upheavals since the Great Depression, George Soros, the legendary financier and philanthropist, has written a significant update to his New York Times best seller, The New Paradigm for Financial Markets.

The revised and updated edition, The Crash of 2008 and What It Means, contains four new chapters, in which he looks at the depth and breadth of the credit crash and proposes an updated set of policies to confront the global financial crisis.

©2008 George Soros (P)2009 George Soros

A Different Take on the Crash

I came to this book with a preconcieved notion about who George Soros is and what he is trying to say. I listened to the book for the discipline and to learn something new. This is a well written and wonderfully read book for those who like Soros and for those who distrust him as well. I am glad that I read him for myself and no longer need to rely on the rants of others to inform me concerning his views.

I particularly found his thoughts concerning reflexivity compelling. These sections are worth the price of the book. Any listeners new to the concept will want to back up their MP3 players and listen to those brief definitions and descriptions more than once. However, the entire book is written in such a way that the noneconomist and the non-financial-wiz can easily follow his arguments.

I can't buy into Soros' arguments entirely, but he has won me over as a thinker and writer. One word of warning about this book, economic conditions are changing quickly and the book will be outdated soon.

Talk about credentials

If there ever were an economic or financial "philosopher" with credentials then George Soros is it. At first I didn't realize that who the author was and then it dawned on me that this was the old guy that Bill O'Reilly claims bought Obama's election and has nefarious plans concerning America since he is foriegn born. At any rate it doesn't matter I was a fish on the hook listening to this audiobook. Even the first part where he explains his falacy and bubble theories and other stuff I was fascinated. I listened two or three times to the first two hours just to digest all of the ideas brought forth. I thought Mr. Soros hypotheses were great, and it opened my mind to some new ideologies like cognitive science and how human interaction should be factored into economic models, and evolutionary economics. Look Mr. Soros is reasonable with his assessments and they are all well founded. Also he is right about how market fundamentalism has dunked our country and the world's head down the toilet bowl and given it a swirly. I would reccomend this audiobook to anyone. Bill O'Reilly is wrong about this guy.

Pure Gold

Explains the essence of what caused the global financial crisis and its likely consequences. I'm not sure when this was released, however, had you read this book and listened to commentary by Warren Buffett in say June 2008 you would have fearlessly ventured into the stock market while others were fleeing and might have made a lot of money. Highly technical and containing some philosophical and scientific view points on markets it it is a primer on the financial crisis and is a must read. Again it is not simply written and in some parts assumes a basic knowledge of finance, for example, in one chapter Soros says "CDS's are a convenient way to short bonds" or "going short stocks carries limited upside but unlimited risk on the downside".

That this book has prescribed a new paradigm for financial markets, I am not sure - there are more stringent lending standards for sure and more austerity practiced by all participants however to say that these will prove to be longlasting is a bet I would not want to take.

don't expect layman language

technical, not for a high school skill level of reading. I feel that the book is good, but I thought it was layman language based on the book's tittle.

Understanding the man behind the political money

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

A good read to help understand actions of the Obama administration. He also givesvery direct, and accurate, critique of Bush policies. His disdain for Bush helps explain the money he has spent, through his endowments, to effect the political process. If not clear earlier, he makes his overall goal quite clear near the end of the bood wishing for "a new world order" and that "all will produce to the extent of their ability and receive to the extent of their need". He makes it clear the purpose of his political spending is a socialist one world government.

From the investment side, I have never read a book by a successful trader that I didn't like because theyalways offer some pearls on trading philosopy. This book is no different. He does a good job of defending his reflexivity theory. If you find this idea interesting, I suggest reading "Human Action" by Mises. He does a much better job of explaining this relationship. Soros' explantion of the crash is good, his plans for the future are less well thought out. Mises again deals with the pitfalls of Soros' ideas for different interventions.

Overall, a worthwhile read. It becomes clear that Soros' talent was understanding the world's central banks monitary policy and the implications. He made his forturnes by always being a step ahead of them. That makes him brilliant in central bank monitary policy and investing, his understanding of overall economics is less gifted and mostly dictated by Keynes.

Trading in the largest economy

George Soros has written numerous books and regularly makes the news. Put his name in a search engine to get the latest. His experience includes running a hedge fund. He also has donated heavily to the Democratic Party. This book assumes that you are somewhat familiar with financial markets and economics. This book argues against economics being described in physical terms. If you have never heard economics described in physical terms then listen to the last chapter of the Panic of 1907. Unfortunately, both this book and the Panic of 1907 have a narrow view of economics. Listen to “The Making of Modern Economics” to get a much broader view. Also, unfortunately, there is a disconnect between a college education in economics and the financial markets. The book “How I become a QUANT”, describes how some economist needed their “on the job” training.
As for trading, a news article on 2/19/10 quoted the author as saying not to buy gold. On 2/19/10, the ticker symbol GLD closed at $109.47. A later article on 5/17/11 says that the author sold $ 800 million in gold in Q1. GLD closed at $144.74 on 5/17/11. Obviously, one sign of being a good trader is the ability to change your mind. A trader of a large position cannot behave the same as a trader of a small position. They have different trading needs. The book Reminiscences of a Stock Operator does a good job describing this difference.
The paper book Anatomy of a Bear does a better job of describing political history associated with bear markets. When FDR took office in March, 1933, most of the price damage to the DJIA had already been done. But the politicians didn’t sit on their hands. There were nine new bills targeting finance in the years 1933 to 1935. Taxes climbed from 0.7% of GNP to 4.7% of GNP in 1932 to 5.5% in 1934. Corporation taxes reached 95% in 1943. Highest rate of income tax reaches 90% on incomes of $1 million or more.

Difficult

I would have preferred a print version as Soros seems to use complex words and phrases when simpler ones would do just fine - and I have been in the investment business for 30 years.