George Soros : SDR II - No alternative to a new world architecture

[sishya]

This is an article dated Nov 2009 and I have seen the youtube video of Soros
Interview dated Oct 2009 explaining the same, which I found intriguing and it looks
feasible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlG_zYgG05o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5CV2UVcRiU


(NOTE : Always wondered why the most influential people in USA mostly have
accent : Kiisinger, Brezenski, Soros).
I was surprised by the following comment by former NSA James Jones. There is no Democratic or Republican foreign policy but rather just American.

Published February 8, 2009

Speaker:	James L. Jones

U.S. National Security Adviser Jones gave these remarks at the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof on February 8, 2009.
"Thank you for that wonderful tribute to Henry Kissinger yesterday. Congratulations. As the most recent National Security Advisor of the United States, I take my daily orders from Dr. Kissinger, filtered down through Generaal Brent Scowcroft and Sandy Berger, who is also here. We have a chain of command in the National Security Council that exists today.

Also it looks like George Soros is arranging a meeting at Bretton Woods. This I don't think is an official meeting of central bankers. The link is alarmist, but I am putting just to understand the process taking place.
http://www.mrc.org/bmi/commentary/20...l_Economy.html


What I learned from it was that.

- Soros says Dollar is disintegrating but just that it is not visible then.
- SDR II to include more Eastern, Latin Currencies.
- Dollar no longer the reserve currency and hence US Dollar will no longer need to
be in Trade deficit to enable world growth.

My extrapolation
- Central Banks to hold SDR bonds as reserves to settle trades
- IMF to issue SDR bonds.
- Companies and Govt can buy these SDR bonds.
- IMF in turn may buy the respective components currency bonds.
- later Contracts can be made in SDR's.
- will Gold be a component in that ? I don't think so.
- National defaults can be avoided when IMF steps in with SDR loans, but then
again there may be belt tightening directives from IMF.
- Who will control IMF and it's SDR ?
-

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0091108a1.html

Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009

No alternative to a new world architecture


By GEORGE SOROS


NEW YORK — Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism, the world faces another stark choice between two fundamentally different forms of organization: international capitalism and state capitalism.

The former, represented by the United States, has broken down, and the latter, represented by China, is on the rise. Following the path of least resistance will lead to the gradual disintegration of the international financial system. A new multilateral system based on sounder principles must be invented. While international cooperation on regulatory reform is difficult to achieve on a piecemeal basis, it may be attainable in a grand bargain that rearranges the entire financial order.




A new Bretton Woods conference, like the one that established the international financial architecture after World War II, is needed to establish new international rules, including treatment of financial institutions considered too big to fail and the role of capital controls. It would also have to reconstitute the International Monetary Fund to reflect better the prevailing pecking order among states and to revise its methods of operation.





In addition, a new Bretton Woods would have to reform the currency system. The postwar order, which made the U.S. more equal than others, produced dangerous imbalances. The dollar no longer enjoys the trust and confidence that it once did, yet no other currency can take its place.


The U.S. ought not to shy away from wider use of IMF Special Drawing Rights. Because SDRs are denominated in several national currencies, no single currency would enjoy an unfair advantage.




The range of currencies included in the SDRs would have to be widened even if some of the newly added currencies, including the renminbi, are not fully convertible. This would let the international community press China to abandon its exchange-rate peg to the dollar and be the best way to reduce international imbalances. The dollar could still remain the preferred reserve currency, provided it is prudently managed.
One great advantage of SDRs is that they permit the international creation of money, which is particularly useful at times as now. The money could be directed to where it is most needed. A mechanism that allows rich countries that don't need additional reserves to transfer their allocations to those that do is readily available, using the IMF's gold reserves.




Reorganizing the world order will need to extend beyond the financial system and involve the United Nations, especially Security Council membership. That process needs to be initiated by the U.S., but China and other developing countries ought to participate as equals. They are reluctant members of Bretton Woods institutions, dominated by countries no longer dominant economically. The rising powers must be present at the creation of this new system to ensure that they will be active supporters.




The system cannot survive in its present form, and the U.S. has more to lose by not being in the forefront of reforming it. The U.S. is still in a position to lead the world, but without farsighted leadership, its relative position is likely to continue to erode. It can no longer impose its will on others, as George W. Bush's administration sought to do, but it could lead a cooperative effort to involve both the developed and the developing world, thereby re-establishing American leadership in an acceptable form.
The alternative is frightening, because a declining superpower losing both political and economic dominance but still preserving military supremacy is a dangerous mix.
We used to be reassured by the generalization that democratic countries seek peace. After the Bush presidency, that rule no longer holds, if it ever did. In fact, democracy is in deep trouble in America. The financial crisis has inflicted hardship on a population that does not like to face harsh reality.




President Barack Obama has deployed the "confidence multiplier" and claims to have contained the recession. But if there is a "double dip" recession, Americans will become susceptible to all kinds of fear-mongering and populist demagogy. If Obama fails, the next administration will be sorely tempted to create some diversion from troubles at home.




Obama has the right vision. He believes in international cooperation, rather than the might-is-right philosophy of the Bush-Cheney era.
The emergence of the Group of 20 as the primary forum of international cooperation and the peer-review process agreed in Pittsburgh are steps in the right direction. What is lacking is a general recognition that the system is broken and needs to be reinvented.




The financial system did not collapse altogether. The Obama administration made a conscious decision to revive banks with hidden subsidies rather than to recapitalize them on a compulsory basis. Those institutions that survived will hold a stronger market position than ever, and they will resist a systematic overhaul. Occupied with many pressing problems, Obama is unlikely to give reinvention of the international financial system his full attention.




China's leadership needs to be even more farsighted than Obama's. China is replacing the American consumer as the motor of the world economy. Since it is a smaller motor, the world economy will grow slower, but China's influence will rise very fast.
For the time being, the Chinese public is willing to subordinate its individual freedom to political stability and economic advancement. But that may not continue indefinitely — and the rest of the world will never subordinate its freedom to the prosperity of the Chinese state.




As China becomes a world leader, it must transform itself into a more open society that the rest of the world is willing to accept as a world leader. Military power relations being what they are, China has no alternative to peaceful, harmonious development. Indeed, the future of the world depends on it.


George Soros is chairman of Soros Fund Management and the Open Society Institute. His most recent book is "The Crash of 2008." © 2009 Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org)

[Serge_Tomiko]

Re: George Soros : SDR II - No alternative to a new world architecture

In general, Soros is best ignored at the moment. He is the personification of evil and all that is wrong with the world today. His days are numbered. While he may as of yet plunge us into yet another world war, his grave will forever be spat upon.

[LorenS]

Re: George Soros : SDR II - No alternative to a new world architecture

Soros got rich partly on currency speculation. He's most certainly looking to make his life easier, not ours better. I think he likes the prospect of an easier way to consolidate his wealth and power.

I don't think he really cares about the true reasons the US economy is faltering and I doubt that he really believes that China's current structure and government has better long term prospects.

True capitalism means a lot of uncertainty. You never know who will invent the next big thing and take it to market - it runs the risk of destroying large swaths of old technology and can change the landscape in unpredictable ways. I just wonder if Soros wants a more predictable future, one in which he can relax, and dole out his wealth and "advice" without the worry of the unpredictable nature of a real innovation based economy.

What it would take to restore the US to a functional capitalist society does not seem to be contained in this kind of plan. We need investment, savings and reasonable rules. We need personal freedom and reasonable property rights. We need honest government and simple, effective laws with prompt and effective enforcement. A new "kind of money" won't bring any of this. It's also where I part paths with the gold as money crowd. Gold as money won't fix our problems at all, it's not a money problem, it's a people problem.

"Reorganizing the world order will need to extend beyond the financial system and involve the United Nations, especially Security Council membership."

The UN is so large they cannot even identify most problems before it's too late to reasonably mitigate them. Consolidating power into the UN just means more opportunity for corruption that individuals have no hope of uncovering, let alone prosecuting. The UN is totally useless at removing horribly corrupt dictators, what happens when the UN becomes infested with these people. How do we ever even hope to get them out?

One great advantage of SDRs is that they permit the international creation of money, which is particularly useful at times as now. The money could be directed to where it is most needed. A mechanism that allows rich countries that don't need additional reserves to transfer their allocations to those that do is readily available, using the IMF's gold reserves.

International creation of money - a new stream of revenue for the well connected to tap into. You know regular folks will never see this "money". I can't spend SDRs anywhere. And which "rich" countries don't "need" their reserves. If the reserves get redistributed they're less likely to be available when needed, and so they won't be reserves anymore.

I can't imagine any currency problem that centralized management would improve upon. At least now people have options. In Argentina they ditched the peso and took refuge in dollars. How will improved SDRs help the person on the street?

[Fiat Currency]

Re: George Soros : SDR II - No alternative to a new world architecture

... I can't spend SDRs anywhere.

Actually - I believe the US Postal service accepts them

And you can convert them into any fiat currency. You can get a quote here ...

http://coinmill.com/SDR_calculator.html#SDR=100

... but please don't confuse my knowledge for support

SDRs were backed by gold at one point. Not anymore.

[jk]

Re: George Soros : SDR II - No alternative to a new world architecture

i have a great deal of respect for soros, and think his political actions are for the most part admirable.
from wikipedia:

He played a significant role in the peaceful transition from communism to capitalism in Hungary (1984–89)[5] and provided Europe's largest-ever higher education endowment to Central European University in Budapest.[7] Later, the Open Society Institute's programs in Georgia were considered by Russian and Western observers to have been crucial in the success of the Rose Revolution.

volcker also had some nice things to say about him:

In 2003, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker wrote in the foreword of Soros' book The Alchemy of Finance:
George Soros has made his mark as an enormously successful speculator, wise enough to largely withdraw when still way ahead of the game. The bulk of his enormous winnings is now devoted to encouraging transitional and emerging nations to become 'open societies,' open not only in the sense of freedom of commerce but—more important—tolerant of new ideas and different modes of thinking and behavior.

early life:

Soros was thirteen years old in March 1944 when Nazi Germany occupied Hungary...In 1944, at age 14, Soros lived with and posed as the godson of an employee of the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture. On one occasion, the official was ordered to inventory the remaining contents of the estate of a wealthy Jewish family that had fled the country.[21] Rather than leave the young George alone in the city, the official brought him along. The following year, Soros survived the Battle of Budapest, in which Soviet and German forces fought house-to-house through the city.
Soros immigrated to England in 1947 and, as an impoverished student, lived with his uncle, an Orthodox Jew. His uncle paid his living expenses while he attended the London School of Economics, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Philosophy in 1952.[22] While a student of the philosopher Karl Popper, Soros worked as a railway porter and as a waiter. A University tutor requested aid for Soros, and he received £40 from a Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) charity.[23] He eventually secured an entry-level position with London merchant bank Singer & Friedlander.


this guy lived under an assumed identity as a 14 year old under nazi occupation, was penniless, and is now a multibillionaire. the fact that he is most famous for winning billions by betting against the bank of england means he was taking a position much like most or all of us are with gold; we're betting against ALL the central banks. he just had the nerve to do it on a huge scale with the resources he had earned up to that point.

he earned everything he's made, and he's spent a lot on trying to improve the world. he's old enough and rich enough that he doesn't appear to me to be all that motivated by prospective trading profits.

[coolhand]

Re: George Soros : SDR II - No alternative to a new world architecture

I have yet to see any conversation with any of the elites about the connection b/t energy/oil and the economy. They are not stupid, they have to know of it - Buffett clearly does...but having a discussion about how the deck will be stacked w/out addressing energy issues is incomplete IMO

[Shakespear]

Re: George Soros : SDR II - No alternative to a new world architecture

He's most certainly looking to make his life easier, not ours better.

Completely agree with the last part.

businessman and notable philanthropist focused on supporting liberal ideals and causes.[3]

Yehh, right, liberal. As in rob them till they are dry "liberal". Sir Goldsmith gave the best clues about who these "liberals" are.

As for the first, if with all the money he has he is not "comfortable" then this guy finds comfort in ever increasing numbers attached to his net worth. And that is an illness in my book. Besides, the guy is 80+ and obviously in need of ever stronger "stimulating rush" to make sense of those billions he controls .

he's spent a lot on trying to improve the world.

A glance at the Wiki bio shows a guy who is a speculator. Now when in the world have speculators helped to make the world better? If anything it is just these types who imploded this Financial System.

Support for those so called "left leaning" think tanks of his is also worth as much as a worn out shoe. It is a mechanism to give lucrative positions to deserving politicians for "hard work" in government positions in service to the people for measly GSA grade pay.

[BiscayneSunrise]

Re: George Soros : SDR II - No alternative to a new world architecture

(NOTE : Always wondered why the most influential people in USA mostly have
accent : Kiisinger, Brezenski, Soros).

Americans are suckers for accents, but only for suave sort of European accents, not yucky Asian or African accents. Think Ricardo Montalban not Jackie Chan. Must be an implicit deference towards European aristocracy or some such thing. It is definitely a weakness on our part.

[Thailandnotes]

Re: George Soros : SDR II - No alternative to a new world architecture

The attacks on Soros are mostly racist. The vitriol on Fox is absurd although good for John Stewart.

Soros did not create the Asian currency crisis. He left most of his potential profits on the table. The word “speculator” by itself has no negative connotations. Big money has been moving around the globe as fast as it can, forever. A majority of the 6.5 billion of us are now currency speculators.

As for his large donations to political campaigns and charities, that's what rich folks do, right or left. (I'll site conservative Joan Didion's great book, “Where I Come From”...”a captivating look at the greed, acquisitiveness and wasteful extravagance lurking beneath California's eternal sunshine.”)

His support and rationale for decriminalizing small amounts of pot is an interesting choice for an 80 year old. Ditto his support for the Roma. (“Bury Me Standing” is another book I need to re-read)

New world order? Sorry, no.

Anyone know a good book on the history of American Philanthropy?

[flintlock]

Re: George Soros : SDR II - No alternative to a new world architecture

(NOTE : Always wondered why the most influential people in USA mostly have
accent : Kiisinger, Brezenski, Soros).
I was surprised by the following comment by former NSA James Jones. There is no Democratic or Republican foreign policy but rather just American.

You left out Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Warren Buffet. Those guys have some pretty strange accents too. Brezezinski and Kissinger "most influential" in USA? Maybe in 1975, but today?

As for Soros, its funny how people can have such wildly different opinions of the same person.

[jk]

Re: George Soros : SDR II - No alternative to a new world architecture

As for Soros, its funny how people can have such wildly different opinions of the same person.

it's worth taking note of which judgements are based on an array of facts, and which are just opinions based on labels which carry emotional but not much cognitive content.

[flintlock]

Re: George Soros : SDR II - No alternative to a new world architecture

it's worth taking note of which judgements are based on an array of facts, and which are just opinions based on labels which carry emotional but not much cognitive content.

I agree. I knew nothing about Soros until an itulip post made me want to know more about the guy. A quick read led me to think he is not the bad guy many make him out to be.(and I always assumed he was) Obviously at his age, he has more in mind than simply amassing an even bigger empire. Does he use him money to push an agenda? Sure, but show me a billionaire who doesn't throw his weight around. I can understand those who disagree with his views, but a lot of the criticism he gets is unwarranted.

[Shakespear]

Re: George Soros : SDR II - No alternative to a new world architecture

but not much cognitive content.

If you want cognitive content just look at the the shape of USA.

As for "facts", I would just say "Don't be so sure YOU have them and insinuate that the other side doesn't" :-)

A majority of the 6.5 billion of us are now currency speculators.

But you can not bring down a country to its knees so don't think yourself to be in the same league as Soro's "liberals".

To this day I remember how BBC was shouting (the message came from "reliable sources") that Malaysia was going to be doomed because of that Evil Muslim Dr Mahathir Mohamad Policies of shutting out speculators on its currency. Property prices would go haywire and the economy would go the way of Soviet Union. Well well, who was right? Definitely not Soros or BBC. Malaysia is still there and doing fine. Same can not be said for the home bases of Soros "liberals".

Does he use him money to push an agenda

At issue is what agenda and for whose gain.

[Thailandnotes]

Re: George Soros : SDR II - No alternative to a new world architecture

Soros is a billionaire, not a trillionaire. He did not and could not have brought a country to its knees. Thai and other Asian banks were borrowing money in dollars with inflated currencies and had poor track records of repaying. Soros and tons of other people called their bluff. Yes, this helped speed the crash of economies, and yes Malaysia did better by thumbing its nose at the IMF and imposing currency controls, but "what agenda for whose gain" suggests evil plot, jewish conspiracy, rant and rave.

Give me a link for what his agenda is.

[Shakespear]

Re: George Soros : SDR II - No alternative to a new world architecture

but "what agenda for whose gain" suggests evil plot, jewish conspiracy, rant and rave.

This is how YOU see it. You seem to have hit all the FOX News talking points.

Just read his Wiki bio. If you are convinced that he is is this "liberal" business man fine. Go for it as I have not problem with that.

I have an issue with making the guy some sort of Jolly Uncle just having a little fun doing "business". He is in league with Jolly Rogger.

Yehh, he is having fun, but at the expense of those who think they are "the speculators" and the rest of the sheep. Before the "speculators" even speculate, the "liberals" have snatched the piece of cake from their mouths. Man, the US melt down is a resounding open secret of how the game is played.

Sir Goldsmith's interview by Charlie Rose is easy to find on the net. He spells it out nice and clear, and he did that in 1994 :-)