Is Soros completely sane? There is a great deal of debate about that. On his own admission, it has long been his desire "to change the world." Although a very mediocre intellectual, he has compared himself to Einstein. In its 1995 New Year issue, The New Yorker categorised Soros’ growing involvement in foreign affairs as "a sign of incipient megalomania." In an article in the same magazine, Soros himself said he always felt a sense of himself as "super human."

Does the enormous damage and untold misery he has brought to so many countries, to so many millions, not disturb him? He has written: "As an anonymous participant in financial markets I never had to weigh social consequences of my actions, but I felt justified in ignoring them because I was playing by the rules." He reiterated this in a London interview last year: "As a market participant I don’t need to be concerned with the consequences of my actions."