Tag: soros

Quotes

Soros:Scholarships are better than charity

Post author By Raoji
Post date April 8, 2013
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People who have become rich in China show real interest in philanthropy, which I think is very praiseworthy because I think it is appropriate for those who have benefited disproportionately that they should return some of it to those who are less fortunate. I think it will contribute to social harmony. I think the natural instinct is to engage in charity. But that has some negative side effects, because charity can turn the recipients into objects of charity, who become dependent instead of depending on themselves. There are people, like the sick and the old, who need to be taken care of. But particularly in the case of children and young people, it is much more important to enable them to improve themselves, giving them opportunities to learn. Scholarships are better than charity.-said George Soros

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Video

One on One With George Soros

Post author By Raoji
Post date January 28, 2013
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Anecdotes BookExcerpt Observations

Geoge Soros on the difference between broking and market making

Post author By Raoji
Post date January 18, 2013
1 Comment on Geoge Soros on the difference between broking and market making

Recently, I had an opportunity to deal with Over The Counter (OTC) securities.Since they are not listed, prices are quoted in a large band with riders such as minimum ticket size etc.More often than not, prices are unreliable and vanish when you actually place the order.

In such a scenario, the role of the broker/intermediary becomes critical.But how much should he paid?I find this anecdote from George Soros’s life instructive:

My friend’s father asked me to change some dollars and being conscientious I went to the pain of visiting both of the two markets for this sort of thing,the old Stock Exchange and an orthodox synagogue in another part of town.It turned out that there was a significant difference in the exchange rate, and I was able to get some 20 percent more at the synagogue than at the the Stock Market, which was the only rate that my friend’s father knew about.So I brought him the larger amount and said that I deserved a higher cut, but he refused.

“He said,’You are a broker and it’s your job to get the best rate, that is what you are getting paid for.’ I remembered that years later when I became a market maker in over-the-counter securities.,” George Soros observed.”Because if you are a market maker and can make someone an extra 20 percent and raise your own cut by half a percent that’s different and better than being just a broker.So in the end by his refusal to raise my compensation he encouraged me to be a market maker rather than a broker, which turned out to be quite useful and I suppose I was paid for that experience.”

-from the book Soros by Michael Kaufman