Eurofinger

Wow, there really is a secretive cabal of hedge fund managers who rule the world - or at least determine the economic fate of nations - if this article's tone is to be believed: Is The Man Who Broke the Bank of England at the Center of Hedge Funds Betting Against the Euro?

A secretive group of Wall Street hedge fund bosses are said to be behind a plot to cash in on the decline of the euro.

Representatives of George Soros's investment business were among an all-star line up of Wall Street investors at an 'ideas dinner' at a private townhouse in Manhattan, according to reports.

A spokesman for Soros Fund Management said the legendary investor did not attend the dinner on February 8, but did not deny that his firm was represented.

At the dinner, the speculators are said to have argued that the euro is likely to plunge in value to parity with the dollar.

The single currency has been under enormous pressure because of Greece's debt crisis, plus financial worries in Portugal, Italy, Spain and Ireland.

But, it has also struggled because hedge funds have been placing huge bets on the currency's decline, which could make the speculators hundreds of millions of pounds.

No word on whether the caterers who served the assembled Titans of Short Selling were later sealed in an underground vault to preserve their silence.

It is, of course, easier to blame George Soros and David Einhorn for all the problems in Europe, but really they are just taking advantage of the appalling fiscal position that Europe has boxed itself into. Does the antelope blame the jackals? Does the corpse rage against the vultures? Europe's elites have simply run up a tab that can no longer be paid off, either in the short or long term. And there doesn't appear to be a political solution that can arise from normally functioning institutions. Even if Greece, Spain, etc wanted to cut themselves to the bone, the rioting entitlement classes in Athens are a warning that there are millions who will continue to demand a seat at the buffet, even as the waiters are sweeping away the remains of the day. The spectre of (shudder) "hedge funds" attacking the Euro is simply the deus ex machina for this particular farce.

Soros, for his part is not the one to look to for a way out. He thinks the EU needs MORE centralized control, which is what he is seeking through chaos:

He said: 'Makeshift assistance should be enough for Greece, but that leaves Spain, Italy, Portugal and Ireland.

'Together they constitute too large a portion of euroland to be helped in this way.'

He believes that unless the European Commission is given sweeping powers over taxation and spending, the single currency will always be vulnerable to financial turbulence in individual states.

'If member countries cannot take the next steps forward, the euro may fall apart,' he added.