George Soros, "Interview: The economy fell off the cliff," Der Spiegel, November 24, 2008.

[In this interview, Soros reveals many of his beliefs about the relationship between government and markets, territory that is fraught with sectarian differences. For example, Soros declares himself to be "against market fundamentalism" largely because he believes that "the state should set the rules and enforce them--but not become involved as a market player."

While this runs counter to the neo-liberal embrace of wholesale de-regulation, Soros says he believes "regulation should be kept to a minimum." For him, regulation arises mainly out of a need for "some cooperation between market participants and authorities," which is a far cry from setting the rules and enforcing them.

Still, he articulates the judgement that "it is better to have a government that wants to provide good government than a government that doesn't believe in government." Survivors of Katrina would probably agree.

Soros also rejects public private partnerships, but looks forward to "a cap and trade system with auctioning of licenses for emissions rights." He believes that "transactions involving credit should be regulated" but that "it is impossible to prevent speculation." The only difference between speculation and investment is "basically that investments are successful speculations."

Evidently, Soros does not speculate (or invest) in military products, but he is prepared to do so with carbon production. -jlt]

The situation is very similar to the 1930s -- but it is going to unfold differently. We have learned not to allow the financial market to collapse. We will spend all the money in the world to prevent that from happening.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Soros, in spite of massive interventions by governments and federal banks the financial crisis is getting worse. The stock markets are in free fall, millions of people could lose their jobs. More and more companies are in trouble, from General Motors in Detroit to BASF in Ludwigshafen. Have you ever seen anything like it?

Soros: Never. I find the present situation dramatic and overwhelming. In my latest book “The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008” I predicted the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. But to tell you the truth: I did not actually anticipate that it would get as bad as it did. It has gone beyond my wildest imagination.

SPIEGEL: What are your fears for the coming months?

Soros: I think that the dark comes before dawn. The financial markets are under great pressure because of the lack of leadership during the transition period. In the next two months, the markets will experience maximum pressure. Then we will see some initiatives from the Obama administration. How long the crisis lasts will depend on the success of these measures.

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Daphne Wysham, "Carbon market fundamentalism," The Multinational Monitor, November 11, 2008.

[Carbon trading is angling to become the next derivative bubble scam. It will not reduce emissions. In the short term, it will increase emissions by selling off future develoment in underdeveloped countries. -jlt]

...the CDM is rapidly devolving into a subsidy for some of the dirtiest industries in the Global South and an excuse for inaction in cutting the significant greenhouse gas emissions by developed countries.

The waste-pickers of Delhi may soon rank among the world’s endangered species if carbon markets continue their rise. Now numbering in the tens if not hundreds of thousands, waste-pickers have plied the garbage of Delhi’s streets for decades. A disturbing spectacle, often including women and children in their ranks, they nonetheless provide a vital service: recycling. In a country like India, paper, plastic and metals are an increasingly valuable commodity. And for slum-dwellers, this may be their only source of income. And so they join the cows and dogs in a daily forage through garbage by the side of road, searching for plastic, paper, metals — anything that can be turned into cash.

Bharati Chaturvedi, director and co-founder of Chintan, a small non-governmental organization (NGO) servicing India’s waste-pickers, claims that more than 1 percent of Delhi’s population is engaged in waste-picking — a significant source of revenue for the poorest — and that they recycle 9 percent to 59 percent of all of the waste generated in the city. “These waste-pickers are providing a public service — for free,” Chaturvedi says.

But a waste incinerator now proposed in Timarpur, a suburb of Delhi, may change all that. Like other incinerators, this one will generate cancer-causing dioxins, mercury, and other heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants. What’s new and different about this particular waste incinerator: It will generate carbon credits under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

The same deregulatory fervor that is playing out in the bankruptcy of Wall Street banks, credit card companies and derivatives traders brought the theory of carbon trading: Open up the free markets — in this case, the newly minted market in carbon — eliminate regulatory interventions such as carbon taxes or precise standards for polluters, and the market will seek out the most efficient means of achieving the same emissions reductions goals.

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