1. 「演繹‧法則模型」﹝Deductive-nomological model﹞ 並不普遍適用於社會科學 ── 否定 Karl Popper 「統一方法」﹝unity of method﹞的想法 ──
The idea that there is a fundamental difference in the subject matter of the natural and social sciences has not been generally recognized. On the contrary, Karl Popper[...]enuciated what he called the "doctrine of the unity of science"; that is, the same methods and criteria apply in both the natural and social sciences. Although it has not been universally accepted, it has not been conclusively refuted either. I shall try to do so here[...]For this purpose I am invoking Karl Popper's scheme of scientific method, described in technical terms as the "deductive-nomological," or "D-N," model[...]An essential conditon [of the model] is that the content of the statements should exist in total isolation from the statements that are made about them[...T]he initial and final conditions should consist of facts which are amendable to scientific observation and the generalizations should have universal validity[...]If thinking is included, the conditions are not amendable to scientific observation, because only the effects of the participants' thinking can be observed, not the process itself. If the thinking process is excluded and only its effects are admitted as evidence, the universal validity of scientific generalizations is destroyed because a given set of conditions is not necessarily preceded or succeeded by the same set every time[...]In either cases, the D-N model breaks down. (p.35-37)2. 否定經濟學理論的「理性行為」假設 ── 經濟學是空中樓閣 ──
Economics seeks to be a science. Science is supposed to be objective and it is difficult to be scientific when the subject matter, the participant in the economic process, lacks objectivity. [...]Economic theory tries to sidestep the issue by introducing the assumption of rational behavior. People are assumed to act by choosing the best of available alternatives, but somehow the distinction between perceived alternatives and facts is assumed away. The result is a theoretical construction of great elegance that resembles natural science but does not resemble reality. (p.11-12)3. 市場不會趨向平衡，藉市場分配資源的做法並非最佳 ── 放任﹝laissez faire﹞政策不可取，市場須要適度監控 ──
[F]inancial markets as well as macro-economic developments[...]exhibit no tendency towards equilibrium. [...M]arkets tend towards excesses, which sooner or later become unsustainable, so that they are eventually corrected. Equilibrium is supposed to ensure the optimum allocation of resources. If markets do not tend towards equilibrium, the main argument that has been used in favor of the market mechanism loses its validity: we have no grounds for believing that markets optimize anything. (p.317)索羅斯認為市場須要適度監控，但他不贊同計劃經濟 。雖然市場未盡完美，但他認為總較沒有市場好 ──
[C]entrally planned economies which, in revulsion against the deficiencies of market economies, have eschewed the use of the pricing mechanism. Output has to be measured in physical quantities, and the distortions are far worse than the excesses of the market. [...M]arket mechanism[...]is the worst system of allocating resources except for all the others. (p.318)至於監控何謂適度，則取決於對不穩定的可接受程度，視乎判斷而定 ──
The prevention of excessive instability is[...]a necessary condition for the smooth functioning of the market mechanism. [...]How much instability is excessive is a matter of juidgment. [...]The sooner we recognize that some kind of regulation is necessary in order to maintain stability, the better our chances of preserving the benefits of a nearly free market system. (p.322-323)4. 社會的政治模式在極權與自由之間擺動，難以達到平衡點 ──
Each form of social organization was found wanting in something that could be found only in its opposite: totalitarian society lacked freedom; Open Society lacked stability. But given our innate bias, a stable equilibrium between the two is just as unlikely to be attained as a stable equilibrium in a free market. Sentiment is likely to swing in one direction or the other. (p.323)
參考資料：
- The Alchemy of Finance: Reading the Mind of the Market, George Soros, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 0-471-04206-4
