George Will
George Will
George Frederick Willis an American newspaper columnist and political commentator. He is a Pulitzer Prize–winner known for his conservative commentary on politics. In 1986, The Wall Street Journal called him "perhaps the most powerful journalist in America," in a league with Walter Lippmann...
ProfessionJournalist
Date of Birth4 May 1941
believe views opposites
The generally accepted view is that markets are always right -- that is, market prices tend to discount future developments accurately even when it is unclear what those developments are. I start with the opposite view. I believe the market prices are always wrong in the sense that they present a biased view of the future.
freedom home america
I chose America as my home because I value freedom and democracy, civil liberties and an open society.
country swings balls
Financial markets are supposed to swing like a pendulum: They may fluctuate wildly in response to exogenous shocks, but eventually they are supposed to come to rest at an equilibrium point and that point is supposed to be the same irrespective of the interim fluctuations. Instead, as I told Congress, financial markets behaved more like a wrecking ball, swinging from country to country and knocking over the weaker ones.It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the international financial system itself constituted the main ingredient in the meltdown process.
country lying rights
The strength of this country lies in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights and the freedom of speech and thought.
fundamentals analysis influence
Fundamental analysis seeks to establish how underlying values are reflected in stock prices, whereas the theory of reflexivity shows how stock prices can influence underlying values
kind economic keynes
I fancied myself as some kind of god or an economic reformer like Keynes
different shapes helping
The generally accepted theory is that financial markets tend towards equilibrium, and...discount the future correctly. I operate using a different theory, according to which financial markets cannot possibly discount the future correctly because the do not merely discount the future; they help to shape it.
opposites assuming prevailing
The prevailing wisdom is that markets are always right. I take the opposite position. I assume that markets are always wrong.
play roles financial
The financial markets play an active role in determining what's going to happen, how the economy is going to function.
reality findings
In politics, manipulating reality can take presidence over finding reality.
perception divergence
There is always a divergence between our perception and what actually exists.
reality perfect evil
The assumption of perfect knowledge is very far from reality ... a lot of the evil in the world is actually not intentional.
would-be fundamentals normal
In certain circumstances, financial markets can affect the so-called fundamentals which they are supposed to reflect. When that happens, markets enter into a state of dynamic disequilibrium and behave quite differently from what would be considered normal by the theory of efficient markets. Such boom/bust sequences do not arise very often, but when they do, they can be very disruptive, exactly because they affect the fundamentals of the economy.
political needs moral
As a society we can't live without moral considerations. We do have to protect the public good. And markets are not designed to do that, so we need a political process.