George Soros' Crystal Ball

MeeMie said:

It would be better to avoid the inevitable depression by learning from history, rather than predict the outcome of bad policies.

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KingOrfeo said:

Look up the word "inevitable."

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Dixon Carter Lee said:

Another Wah Thread from MeeMie.

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Ulaven_Demorte said:

A quick search of The Australian, which Daily Mail cites as it's source shows that Soros was speaking about his prediction of market collapse, about which he was wrong twice before, this time came true and that he was prepared for the fallout.

Damn him..

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Dixon Carter Lee said:

Another Wah Thread from MeeMie.

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The_Trouvere said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrvp3JTKX8k

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MeeMie said:

Yeah, UD, you always have your special little apologist spin on everything.


But let's pay attention to exactly what it does say in both articles.

'I'm having a very good crisis,'

Soros was one of the few people to anticipate and prepare for the current economic collapse.

Mr Soros decision to come out of retirement in 2007 to manage the fund made him $US2.9 billion.

And while the financial crisis continued to deepen across the globe, the 78-year-old still managed to make $1.1 billion last year.

'It is, in a way, the culminating point of my life’s work,'




It's rewarding pulling the puppet's strings, isn't it?

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off2bed said:

Cut n paste
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Ulaven_Demorte said:

It sounds like Soros has been talking to most of the economic experts..

Tell us again how the fundamentals of the economy are strong..

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Key Obama Economic Adviser: Fundamentals of the Economy Are Sound
March 15, 2009 12:59 PM

The Chair of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, Dr. Christina Romer, on Sunday said that the fundamentals of the economy are "sound," a comment similar to one that her boss as a candidate repeatedly attacked Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for making during the heat of last year's presidential campaign.

"Of course, the fundamentals are sound," Romer said on Meet the Press, "in the sense that the American workers are sound. We have a good capital stock, we have good technology. We know that, temporarily, we're in a mess, right? We have seen huge job loss, we've seen very large falls in GDP. Certainly in the short run, we're in a bad situation."

On September 15, McCain said, "As you know, there's been tremendous turmoil in our financial markets and Wall Street, and it is -- it's --people are frightened by these events. Our economy, I think, still the fundamentals of our economy are strong. But these are very, very difficult times. And I promise you, we will never put America in this position again. We will clean up Wall Street. We will reform government."

That morning, more bad Wall Street news was hitting -- with a focus on Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers -- and McCain’s remarks provided an easy opportunity to paint the Republican as out of touch.

"We just woke up to news of financial disaster, and this morning he said that the fundamentals of the economy are still strong," Obama said on September 15 in Grand Junction, Colo. "Sen. McCain - what economy are you talking about? "What’s more fundamental than the ability to find a job that pays the bills and can raise a family? What’s more fundamental than knowing that your life savings is secure, and that you can retire with dignity? What’s more fundamental than knowing that you’ll have a roof over your head at the end of the day?"

McCain later tried to explain that he meant by way of defining "the fundamentals of the economy" as "the American worker and their innovation, their entrepreneurship, the small business, those are the fundamentals of America, and I think they’re strong."

But many on the Obama campaign believe this remark by McCain -- and the way candidate Obama used it to portray McCain as out of touch on the economy -- was a crucial moment in their eventual victory.

Flash-forward to Friday, when President Obama -- amidst some economic cheerleading from the administration -- said that "if you've been laid off your job, if you've lost your home, then, you know, right now is very tough. But we're providing help along the way. That's why we put a housing program in place; that's why we're going to be announcing additional steps to help small businesses."

But, Mr. Obama said, "if we are keeping focused on all the fundamentally sound aspects of our economy, all the outstanding companies, workers, all the innovation and dynamism in this economy, then we're going to get through this. And I'm very confident about that."

Republican aides twisted this to suggest that the president had declared the fundamentals of the economy to be sound, which he had not.

This morning NBC's David Gregory asked Romer about the quote, saying that what Obama said sounded "similar" to what he'd hammered McCain for saying.

Romer said that "when the President says he's focusing on fundamentals, what he means is, is we're focusing on fixing the fundamentals. We've always said we're not looking at the ups and downs of the stock market. We're looking for those crucial indicators: when are jobs turning around, when are sales turning around, when do we see consumers coming to life. That's the kind of thing that certainly I'm looking at in terms of when's the economy going to be doing better."

What's the difference between what McCain said in 2008 and what President Obama said Friday?

Romer said that "where we are today is obviously not good. We have a plan in place to get to a good place. I think that's the crucial -- a fundamentally crucial difference, is to make sure that you have put in place all of the comprehensive the programs that will get us back to the fundamentals." Additionally, she said, "the president said in terms of fundamentals, we need to make changes. That's why he's focusing on energy and education, getting the budget deficit under control… He said, when we get through this thing, we want to be in a better place."

Perhaps McCain was right back then?

"I really think you're misinterpreting the president," Romer said. "They key thing the president was saying is we have our eyes on the fundamentals."

-- jpt

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White House says economy is sound despite 'mess'

By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer – Sun Mar 15, 6:05 pm ET
WASHINGTON – The economy is fundamentally sound despite the temporary "mess" it's in, the White House said Sunday in the kind of upbeat assessment that Barack Obama had mocked as a presidential candidate.

Obama's Democratic allies pleaded for patience with an administration hitting the two-month mark this week, while Republicans said the White House's plans ignore small business and the immediate need to fix what ails the economy. After weeks projecting a dismal outlook on the economy, administration officials — led by the president himself in recent days — swung their rhetoric toward optimism in what became Wall Street's best stretch since November.

During the fall campaign, Obama relentlessly criticized his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, for declaring, "The fundamentals of our economy are strong." Obama's team painted the veteran senator as out of touch and failing to grasp the challenges facing the country.

But on Sunday, that optimistic message came from economic adviser Christina Romer. When asked during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" if the fundamentals of the economy were sound, she replied: "Of course they are sound."

"The fundamentals are sound in the sense that the American workers are sound, we have a good capital stock, we have good technology," she said. "We know that — that temporarily we're in a mess, right? We've seen huge job loss, we've seen very large falls in GDP. So certainly in the short run we're in a — in a bad situation."

Just a week ago, White House Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag declared that "fundamentally, the economy is weak." Days later, Obama told reporters he was confident in the economy.

"If we are keeping focused on all the fundamentally sound aspects of our economy, all the outstanding companies, workers, all the innovation and dynamism in this economy, then we're going to get through this," Obama said, striking a tone that his top aides mimicked.

Despite the new enthusiasm at the White House and on Wall Street, there was little solid evidence to suggest an end was in sight to the severe recession that has already cost 4 million American jobs, driven down home values and sent foreclosures soaring. Meanwhile, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said he was concerned about the safety of the estimated $1 trillion his country has invested in U.S. government debt.

Obama sought to downplay the worries.

"There's a reason why even in the midst of this economic crisis you've seen actual increases in investment flows here into the United States," Obama said Saturday in the Oval Office. "I think it's a recognition that the stability not only of our economic system, but also our political system, is extraordinary."

The seesaw message from the new administration drew sharp criticism from Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who said Obama's team was exploiting the economic situation for political gain.

"They're taking advantage of a crisis in order to do things that had nothing to do with getting us into the crisis in the first place," McConnell said.

Democratic lawmakers promoted a potential plan to help move so-called toxic assets off bank ledgers. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said discussions were under way, but would not be rushed.

"If they wait a week or two more, no one ought to get all in a twitter about that. It's very important to do it right," he said.

Also Sunday, the president's team largely rejected suggestions that officials were considering taxing employees' health benefits. As a candidate Obama had called such a proposal a "multitrillion-dollar tax hike."

"I'm not leaving the door open," said Austan Goolsbee, a senior White House economist with a broad portfolio and a personal friendship with Obama, responding to a report in Sunday's New York Times. "The president has laid out a series of clear principles on the health plan that we will do whatever it takes to get affordable quality coverage to all Americans."

Romer said she wouldn't take the idea off the table, but she added that Obama hasn't supported it. Larry Summers, the president's chief economic adviser, said it wasn't part of Obama's principles but left open the possibility of such a move from Congress, where Democrats control both chambers.

Even so, Obama's political allies are not taking chances. Organizing for America, whose almost 14 million-person e-mail list is drawn from voters who supported Obama last November, plans to mobilize them this week to build grass-roots support for the budget on the Internet and on phone lines.

"We didn't fight to shy away from the tough long-term decisions Washington has ducked for far too long," Obama political adviser David Plouffe wrote this weekend to members of the group, which is overseen by the Democratic National Committee.

Republicans refused to accept Democrats' plans. McConnell said the GOP would work to amend the proposal in the Senate, but not put forward a wholesale plan.

Rep. Eric Cantor, the GOP's No. 2 leader in the House, promised an alternative budget, in part to counter Democratic attacks that his party provided only "no" but not other ideas and in part to help small businesses, whom Cantor said Obama ignores.

In contrast to Cantor's charge, Obama planned to provide billions of dollars in federal lending aid aimed at struggling small business owners.

The broad package of measures to be announced Monday includes $730 million from the stimulus plan that will immediately reduce small-business lending fees and increase the government guarantee on some Small Business Administration loans to 90 percent, according to officials briefed on the plan who demanded anonymity because the announcement had not been made.

McConnell appeared on ABC's "This Week." Summers appeared on ABC and on CBS's "Face the Nation." Romer and Cantor appeared on NBC. Goolsbee and Frank appeared on "Fox News Sunday."

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PannieMonster said:

Here ya go UD:



http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/03/key-obama-econo.html

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