George Soros first came to public prominence as the eminence grise behind the crises that affected European currencies in the mid1990s. He made a fortune and a reputation as an investor who could single-handedly move the money markets.
Before his leap into the spotlight Soros was well known for his Quantum investment fund, which has consistently produced the goods. His fame has also focused attention on a number of projects that his wealth has supported. Chief among those are the various institutions he funds whose aims are to promote global openness. Last year he spent $560 million (€655 million) bank-rolling the Open Society Fund, the Eastern European Foundation and the International Science Foundation.
In tandem with his moneymaking and philanthropic activities, Soros has produced a number of books, principally the rather gloomy The Crisis of Global Capitalism: open society endangered, which basically forecast the end of the world as we know it.
His current think piece started life as a revised edition of The Crisis but morphed into a new book as he realised that he had miscalculated in two central arguments.
The first was the ability of institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the US Federal Reserve to react successfully to threats, and the second was to underestimate the staggering impact that the technological revolution would have.
In his new book he rectifies this and continues to explore the danger that global capitalism poses for an open and accountable global society.
Soros proposes a grand alliance of the world's democratic centres, the US and European Union, that goes beyond existing military and trade agreements. He realises that the dichotomy in US strategy - on one hand brutal pragmatism in pursuing new markets and on the other espousing the ideals of the Declaration of Independence - must be ended, with the US embracing a society that is just, open and fair to both citizens and capital.
He cites the European Union's "piecemeal social engineering" and fierce attachment to national sovereignty as the main stumbling blocks to it embracing his open society.
Soros has produced another thought-provoking book and has again put his mouth where his money is.
Conn O Midheach
comidheach@irish-times.ie
