This post features video recordings of a lecture series by George Soros at the Central European University in Budapest, discussing capitalism versus an open society.

Part 1: Soros explores the “agency problem” and its impact on both markets and politics. The principal-agent problem, in which those who are to represent others tend to place their interests ahead of those they are supposed to represent, poses a risk to ethical considerations, and in Soros’s view undermines values necessary for the operation of an open society.

Click here or on the image below to view the video clip.

Part 2: He analyzes the agency problem inherent in the American political system. He believes the main culprit is a decline in public mortality which he says is fostered by the rise of market fundamentalism.