Billionare money alchemist George Soros has acknowledged the protests on Wall Street and says he understands what has driven Americans to come out en masse and camp in the streets.
Soros was at a news conference for a United Nations charity when he spoke out about the Wall Street protests, and in recent days the mega-wealthy capitalist has also made some dire predictions regarding a coming economic depression. (Soros posits that if Euro and US markets don’t take some drastic measures quickly, an even larger depression is inevitable.)
Of the protests occurring downtown (and spreading to new cities in the US each day) Soros said, “I think I can sympathize with their views… Actually I can understand their sentiment, frankly …since they were relying on that credit to run their businesses an awful lot of them actually were put out of business.”
Soros added:
“And at the same time the decision not to inject capital into the banks, but to effectively relieve them of their bad assets and then allow them to earn their way out of a hole leaves the banks bumper profits and then allows them to pay bumper bonuses.”
Soros also spoke of the Tea Party movement versus the Occupy Wall Street protests, saying the “contrast between the two” in his estimation “is a large contingent.” The protests are in their 17th day at the original Zucotti Park location and protesters indicate they intend to stay for several months.
In addition to the comments from George Soros, the situation was briefly touched upon at a White House press briefing yesterday, with a spokesman saying that the President “understands” the sentiment behind the Occupy Wall Street movement.