Prominent financier George Soros states in the Introduction to this edition: ¿This book puts forward a conceptual framework for understanding human affairs in general and financial markets in particular. I have been working on it all my life but it is only now that the framework has gained some recognition because not only did it explain the Crash of 2008 but more or less predicted how it would happen. Most of this book was written at the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008. Part Three: The Crash of 2008 and What It Means, is intended to bring the book and my arguments up to date. The current breakdown is a relatively recent event whose full impact has not yet been felt. ¿ Graphs.