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I think there's a lot of merit in an international economy and global markets, but they're not sufficient because markets don't look after social needs. Markets are designed to allow individuals to look after their private needs and to pursue profit. It's really a great invention and I wouldn't under-estimate the value of that, but they're not designed to take care of social needs.

George Soros#19

MarketsSocietyEconomyProfitLimitationsNeedsSocial

About this quote

What does it mean?
Markets serve private needs but fail to address social needs.
In plain terms
Markets help individuals profit but ignore social needs.
What can you take from it?
Markets are useful but cannot solve social problems alone.

Where it applies

  • policy discussions
  • economic planning
  • social reform

Putting it to work

  • supplement markets with policy
  • identify market gaps

Questions to consider

  • Can markets solve social issues?
  • What do markets ignore?

Another view

Markets sometimes indirectly address social needs through innovation.

More from George Soros

  1. A global society does not mean a global state. To abolish the existence of states is neither feasible nor desirable; but insofar as there are collective intere…

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  2. Each state is guided by its interests, not by some nebulous concept of common interest. And not many states are even democratic. So, you have a problem with th…

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  3. It is time to recognize that financial markets are inherently unstable. Imposing market discipline means imposing instability, and how much instability can soc…

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