Japhy Wilson on George Soros and philanthrocapitalism for Jacobin

In the world of high finance, Soros is famous for his concept of “reflexivity,” according to which market transactions impact the price signals to which they respond. Meanwhile, in his philanthropic work, Soros emphasizes the constant danger of “unintended consequences.” He does not, however, consider the possibility of a relationship between these two dimensions.

In other words, it never occurs to him that “feedback loops” might be established between his speculative activities and his philanthropic projects in unintended ways. In the tale that I am about to tell, we will see how Soros is not only “taking money in at one end and pushing it out at the other,” but is also eating the stuff that comes out at the other end.