The end of the “superboom” in asset prices has finally arrived, says billionaire investor George Soros.

According to a report in The Daily Telegraph, “Speaking on a BBC documentary, Mr Soros said that at the heart of the financial crisis was the culmination of a 60-year-old boom in leverage, the result of which will be a far deeper downturn than many expect.”

Read on at Telegraph.co.uk.

Soros predicts the both the financial industry and the indebtedness of the US consumer will have to shrink, causing a “very painful adjustment”.

“Americans used their economic freedom to ruin themselves,” says Bill Bonner.

“Shareholders consented to hundreds of millions in bonuses and stock options for key executives. Investors signed up for hedge funds, willingly giving managers ‘2% and 20%’ for putting quarters in the slot machine for them. Taxpayers allowed huge tax cuts – widely believed to be aiding the wealthy – because they looked forward to the day when they would be wealthy too. And almost everyone, everywhere eagerly went on a spending spree, in the belief that this new, kindler, gentler capitalism would add wealth faster than they could get rid of it. And if they overspent, hyper-capitalism would soon catch up.”