Steve Kroft: In the last two years, you have been blamed for the financial collapse of Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and Russia.
George Soros: All of the above.
Steve Kroft: All of the above. Are you that powerful?
George Soros: No. I think there's a great misunderstanding.
Steve Kroft: The prime minister of Malaysia said that the region spent 40 years trying to build up its economy, and along comes a moron like Soros with a lot of money, and it's all over. He called you a criminal.
George Soros: It's easier for him to blame an outside force than to admit that they were mismanaging their economy and their currency. The French finance minister talked about hanging speculators from lamp posts.

I developed a theory of salesmanship based on the principle that one must not on any account identify oneself with the merchandise one is selling. Selling is a game where you score when you make a sale. If you allow your ego to be involved, the customer can brush you off and you lose; but if you do not identify yourself with your work you will be able to redouble your efforts when you are rejected, and if you make a sale you come out the winner.

In economics, contingent, time- and context-bound theories may yield more useful explanations and predictions than timeless and universal generalizations based on ungrounded assumptions.