Shamelessly lifted from www.moneynews.com:
Soros: Global Debt May Spark Double Dip Recession
By: Dan Weil
We haven’t put the financial crisis behind us yet, and global debt woes could spark a double-dip recession, says hedge fund legend George Soros.
“The collapse of the financial system as we know it is real, and the crisis is far from over,” he says.
“Indeed, we have just entered Act II of the drama,” he said in a speech, Bloomberg reports.
The current pressure on governments to cut their budget deficits while economic recoveries are still fragile is “eerily” reminiscent of the 1930s, he says.
Markets are now focused on Europe, but deficits are exploding around the world, with U.S. government debt hitting a record high of $13 trillion this month.
“When the financial markets started losing confidence in the credibility of sovereign debt, Greece and the euro have taken center stage,” Soros said.
“But the effects are liable to be felt worldwide. A double dip (recession) can't be ruled out."
Economist Nassim Taleb, author of “The Black Swan,” is quite concerned too.
"The situation today is vastly worse than a couple years ago,” he told CNBC.
“We had less debt worldwide then and more people employed. Today, we have more risk in the system, and a lower tax base.”
Debt has spread “like a cancer,” Taleb said.
In the U.S. interest rates will have to rise on government debt to attract foreign investors, creating big problems for the economy, Hiroki Shimazu, an economist at Nikko Cordial Securities, told Bloomberg.
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