Billionaire investment sage George Soros sat down with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo as he met with other tycoons at their annual pow-wow in Davos. (Check out the other big shots that showed up)
Soros, who heads Soros Fund Management and has amassed a fortune worth $13 billion, shared his thoughts about the stimulus (it worked), U.S. banks (they're still too big), China (it's growing too fast), and the U.S. Dollar (better to keep it weak). Here are some of his thoughts.
In the U.S.:
- The U.S. government's stimulus has kept the economy alive.
- Need to separate commercial banks from investment banks.
- Commercial banks shouldn't be allowed to gamble with government insured deposits.
- Banks are too still too big to fail. After Lehman, the government won't let a big firm collapse.
- U.S. needs to raise bank capital requirements. If investment banks want to trade with their own money, they must have enough cash reserves to back their bets.
- Keep the dollar weak.
On the rest of the world:
- Greece won't default; the punishment to its credit would be too painful.
- China is overheating, but still a good long-term investment.
- China needs to let its currency strengthen.
- Eastern Europe looks like a good play.