Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition there is no shame in being wrong, only in failing to correct our mistakes.
Stock market bubbles don't grow out of thin air. They have a solid basis in reality, but reality as distorted by a misconception.
The financial markets generally are unpredictable. So that one has to have different scenarios... The idea that you can actually predict what's going to happen contradicts my way of looking at the market.
The worse a situation becomes the less it takes to turn it around, the bigger the upside.
Markets are constantly in a state of uncertainty and flux and money is made by discounting the obvious and betting on the unexpected.
When it comes to social consequences, they've got all different people acting in different ways, very difficult to even have a proper criterion of success. So, it's a difficult task.
Well, you know, I was a human being before I became a businessman.
Increasingly, the Chinese will own a lot more of the world because they will be converting their dollar reserves and U.S. government bonds into real assets.
We are the most powerful nation on earth. No external power, no terrorist organization, can defeat us. But we can defeat ourselves by getting caught in a quagmire.
I think there's a lot of merit in an international economy and global markets, but they're not sufficient because markets don't look after social needs.
Law has become a business. Health care has become a business. Unfortunately, politics has also become a business. That really undermines society.
I chose America as my home because I value freedom and democracy, civil liberties and an open society.
Throughout the 19th century, when there was a laissez-faire mentality and insufficient regulation, you had one crisis after another. Each crisis brought about some reform. That is how central banking developed.
A lot of the evil in the world is actually not intentional. A lot of people in the financial system did a lot of damage without intending to.
Now that I have called you on your false accusation, you are using additional smear tactics.
Bush's war in Iraq has done untold damage to the United States. It has impaired our military power and undermined the morale of our armed forces. Our troops were trained to project overwhelming power. They were not trained for occupation duties.
I see tremendous imbalance in the world. A very uneven playing field, which has gotten tilted very badly. I consider it unstable. At the same time, I don't exactly see what is going to reverse it.
Proposition 19 already is a winner no matter what happens on election day. The mere fact of its being on the ballot has elevated and legitimized public discourse about marijuana and marijuana policy in ways I could not have imagined a year ago.
We must recognize that as the dominant power in the world we have a special responsibility. In addition to protecting our national interests, we must take the leadership in protecting the common interests of humanity.
The people currently in charge have forgotten the first principle of an open society, namely that we may be wrong and that there has to be free discussion. That it's possible to be opposed to the policies without being unpatriotic.
