Understanding Economics

General Theory of Reflexivity: Lecture


Open Society Institute chairman and founder George Soros shares his latest thinking on economics and politics in a five-part lecture series recorded at Central European University, October 26-30, 2009. The lectures are the culmination of a lifetime of practical and philosophical reflection.

Soros discusses his general theory of reflexivity and its application to financial markets, providing insights into the recent financial crisis. The third and fourth lectures examine the concept of open society, which has guided Soros’s global philanthropy, as well as the potential for conflict between capitalism and open society. The closing lecture focuses on the way ahead, examining the increasingly important economic and political role that China will play in the future. [Source]

What I like in enormous winnings of George Soros, it is his push for 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.

My amateur learning in Economics : Economics is too mathematical model done by technological student and neglecting risk and chaos. Neither any economic policy can ensure economic stability indefinitely nor any complex mathematical formulae could tame uncertainty. The probelm lies in an intellectual default within economics, but they seem oblivious of the role of ideology in producing this default. I assume that economics is insulated from the world not only by its narrow explanatory methodology but also because it rewards the mathematical modelling that resuls to bind the economics as a game of numbers & statistics.