Your Money or Your Life!

FINANCIAL GLOBALISATION/63

George Soros is an exception to the secrecy rule. The Hungarian-
American Soros heads the Quantum Fund and was one of the driving
forces behind the attack on the European Monetary System in the
summer of 1992. He pocketed SI billion by speculating against the
British pound. Like a gambler, he also loses from time to time - for
example, in January 1994, when he lost S600 million. In 1995, he
published a book in which he describes how he has run his operation
in strict accordance with the relevant laws (Soros, 1995). In this
interview-style book, which he commissioned, he raises the alarm
over the dangers of unrestrained deregulation. The book is an
instructive read. On the occasion of its release in France, Soros
declared:

Many people feel that markets are the best way to share out

resources and create a balanced situation. I believe the opposite is

true. I do not believe in market perfection. Measures have to be

taken to stabilise the market, otherwise there will be dangerous

developments, especially since imbalances are cumulative. I feel

markets aren't sufficiently monitored and that there should be

tighter regulations. Broadly speaking, market mechanisms have

come to play too great a role in our societies. I am not a fan of

laissez-faire. (Le Monde, 2 November 1996)

Such declarations did not hold Soros back from playing - according
to the Malaysian prime minister - a vanguard role in attacks on
various Southeast Asian currencies, the Thai bhat and Malaysian
ringgit in particular. According to the Mexican daily El Financiero (2 8
July 1997), on 26 July 1997 Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohammed openly accused Soros of secretly organising speculative
attacks which, from July onwards, led to a depreciation in the value
of Southeast Asian currencies. Soros denied any such involvement.
El Financiero relates other declarations from Mahathir:

He called on the international community to consider the

speculative attacks on Southeast Asian currencies a crime. 'This

will happen again, that is why we consider it to be a crime,' he said.

He said that as long as the international community did not take

steps against such activities, the currencies of developing countries

would continue to be sabotaged and their citizens would continue

to live in poverty.