If the G20 meeting of world leaders this week results in nothing but more hot air, billionaire George Soros says all bets are off — the global economy is heading for a huge meltdown. “That could push the world into depression. It’s really a make-or-break occasion. That’s why it’s so important. The chances of a depression are quite high — even if that is averted, the recession will last a long time. Look, we are not going back to where we came from. In that sense it’s going to last forever.” While most investors are worried about the sorry state of the global markets, Soros finds the economic gloom-and-doom "exhilarating," and reckons a full-blown depression is inevitable. “I have to admit that actually I flourish, I’m more stimulated by the bust,” Soros said in an interview with the Times of London. "On the one hand, there's the tremendous human suffering, which is very distressing. On the other hand, to be able to handle the situation is exhilarating." This recession, Soros said, is a “once-in-a-lifetime event,” particularly in Britain and the United States. “This is a crisis unlike any other. It’s a total collapse of the financial system with tremendous implications for everyday life. On previous occasions when you had a crisis that was threatening the system the authorities intervened and did whatever was necessary to protect the system," said Soros. "This time they failed.” A financial mystic — Soros believes his body aches and pains give him signals as to when to invest, or when to short — he does not know how long the current climate will continue. “That depends on how it’s handled. Allowing Lehman Brothers to fail was the game-changing event. That’s when the financial crisis went over the brink. The size of the problem is actually bigger than in the 1930s,” said Soros. Soros refuses to say what he is doing in the markets now. Has he shorted the pound recently? “I had shorted it last year, but I’m not shorting the pound now.” Is the euro under threat? “There is stress in the euro because of the differential in the interest rate that the different countries have to pay,” he said. Though one would be hard pressed to find another economist who agrees with Soros that the recession is an "exhilarating" experience, his hypothesis that the debt burden by governments of the world is the real problem for the economy is shared by many. "A Congressional office asked me what the estimated national debt in President Obama’s fiscal year 2010 budget submission would be on a per-U.S.-household basis. I think the answer is worth sharing," writes Tad DeHaven, an analyst with the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington D.C. "According to the White House budget, the estimated national debt, or debt held by the public, in fiscal year 2010 would equal approximately $81,000 per U.S. household." | 
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