Here he Goes Again?

The conservative blogosphere has recently been abuzz about an 'unreported' event being hosted by the George Soros funded Institute for New Economic Thinking. Presumably the negative buzz can be attributed to the fact that Soros has been a vocal critic of the current free market system, a system which opponents point out has enabled him to become a billionaire. He has also discussed his fondness for the Chinese system of capitalism as well as a shakeup of the current world order which would see China and other rising powers have a larger say in the affairs of the UN and other international organizations such as the IMF. All of this is well documented, making Soros a figure of derision among many. However, and though Blawgconomics is no huge fan of Soros, we believe that the criticisms surrounding 'The New Bretton Woods' are a bit overblown.

While it is true that Soros has some radical ideas regarding international economic organizations and the state of international currencies, he is correct that something needs to change. Additionally, with an obvious lack of policymakers, at least among the list of confirmed speakers, the people who would be required to propagate some of Soros' more novel ideas will be conspicuously absent. Finally, even the most ardent conservatives could hardly call the confirmed speakers from the Financial Times and The Wall St. Journal anything but pro-markets. Indeed, though the speaker list inevitably tilts a little further to the left than, say that of Davos might, it is far from obvious that the bulk of the conference would even be on board with some of Soros' wilder notions. Therefore it seems that much the buzz around the conference can mostly be attributed to the fact that Mr. Soros is so polarizing a figure. Details to follow...