George Soros Commits $5 Million for Oxford Economics Institute

Posted on April 6, 2010

Billionaire financier George Soros has committed $5 million to help create a new economics institute at the University of Oxford, the London Times reports.

As yet unnamed, the new institute is the first to be funded by the New York City-based Institute for New Economic Thinking (Inet), which Soros launched with a $50 million pledge last fall to stimulate debate about the role of government regulation in the economy and financial markets.

The funds for the new institute will be directed to Oxford's James Martin 21st Century School, which is matching the gift. The institute will be headed by professor Sir David Hendry, a fellow of Nuffield College.

Both Inet and the Oxford institute reflect Soros's frustration with the prevailing wisdom that global financial markets can be left to their own devices. Inet director Robert Johnson, a former managing director at Soros Fund Management, said that Britain was chosen for the new institute because it appears to be more open to broadening the economic debate than the United States. "We want to go to a climate where the minds are open," said Johnson. "We find the climate in the UK to be much more conducive to change. In the US the orthodoxy is a little bit more embedded."

Frean, Alexandra. “George Soros Backs Oxford to Refresh Economics.” London Times 4/05/10.

David C. Korten & Paul Krugman, PLEASE help the forward-thinking Americans of the USA to take action now to close this gap! We the open-minded, do NOT want to be economically left behind!