The Alchemy of Finance

GEORGE SOROS runs Soros Fund Management with its flagship vehicle, Quantum Fund, a CuraCao-based investment firm headquartered in Manhattan. Quantum gained 68.6% in 1992 and 61.5% in 1993, and has $6 billion in net assets. Quantum Fund also spawned several other very successful funds. In addition to being a master financier, George Soros sponsors major philanthropic efforts under the umbrella of The Soros Foundations, which operate in 22 countries and spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

THEORY; The Theory of Reflexivity; Reflexivity in the Stock Market; Reflexivity in the Currency Market; The Credit and Regulatory Cycle; HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE; The International Debt Problem; The Collective System of Lending; Reagan's Imperial Circle; Evolution of the Banking System; The Oligopolarization'' of America; THE REAL-TIME EXPERIMENT; The Starting Point: August 1985; Phase 1: August 1985 December 1985; Control Period: January 1986 July 1986; Phase 2: July 1986 November 1986; The Conclusion: November 1986; EVALUATION; The Scope for Financial Alchemy: An Evaluation of the Experiment; The Quandary of the Social Sciences; PRESCRIPTION; Free Markets Versus Regulation; Toward an International Central Bank; The Paradox of Systemic Reform; The Crash of '87; Epilogue; Notes.