Warren Buffett says, take the bitter medicine
Warren Buffett has released his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, in which he reviews the previous year for his investment group’s performance and for that of the general economy. Here’s the core of his larger assessment, which sounds exactly right to me:
“This debilitating spiral has spurred our government to take massive action. In poker terms, the Treasury and the Fed have gone ‘all in.’ Economic medicine that was previously meted out by the cupful has recently been dispensed by the barrel. These once-unthinkable dosages will almost certainly bring on unwelcome aftereffects. Their precise nature is anyone’s guess, though one likely consequence is an onslaught of inflation.
“Moreover, major industries have become dependent on Federal assistance, and they will be followed by cities and states bearing mind-boggling requests. Weaning these entities from the public teat will be a political challenge. They won’t leave willingly. Whatever the downsides may be, strong and immediate action by government was essential last year if the financial system was to avoid a total breakdown. Had that occurred, the consequences for every area of our economy would have been cataclysmic. Like it or not, the inhabitants of Wall Street, Main Street and the various Side Streets of America were all in the same boat.”
He also writes about the dangers and mysteries of derivatives and derivatives trading, noting that it is impossible even for him to accurately assess the investment risk they pose.
“Participants seeking to dodge troubles face the same problem as someone seeking to avoid venereal disease: It’s not just whom you sleep with, but also whom they are sleeping with. Sleeping around, to continue our metaphor, can actually be useful for large derivatives dealers because it assures them government aid if trouble hits. In other words, only companies having problems that can infect the entire neighborhood – I won’t mention names – are certain to become a concern of the state (an outcome, I’m sad to say, that is proper). From this irritating reality comes The First Law of Corporate Survival for ambitious CEOs who pile on leverage and run large and unfathomable derivatives books: Modest incompetence simply won’t do; it’s mindboggling screw-ups that are required.”
He doesn’t say so, but it’s pretty clear that he has AIG in mind. Again, he doesn’t like the hundreds of billions of government dollars being used to bail out private firms; it grates on him and worries him. But he also accepts the necessity of it at this point.
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214 comments Add your comment
Dave R
March 1st, 2009
9:02 am
Well, it looks like you finally found the one rich-guy willing to agree with the policy you love, so why other looking for more, right, Jay?
Even if here are thousands more who would disagree with you.
Not that numbers matter in a free society anyway.
catlady
March 1st, 2009
9:03 am
It’s fair to say if it grates on his nerves, it pisses the hell out of the rest of us. Sometimes the chips have to fall where they may. I am personally tired of the bailouts and giveaways, helter skelter with little thought seeming to be applied. I am all for responsible companies and individuals being rewarded (or, at least, failing to be punished).
Who would ever expect that the worst sinners would get the greatest mercy! Wait, wasn’t that in the Bible?
Redneck Convert
March 1st, 2009
9:16 am
Well, don’t pay no attention to this Buffet guy. He’s the one that wants this Obama to tax him more. You don’t let crazy people give you advise about money. You send somebody like that to school to be learned by somebody like @@.
Anyhow, us Libraritarians and Republicans don’t hold with this bailout stuff. In a Free Innerprize economy it’s dog eat dog. Let them all fail and let the people that made Bad Choices take Personal Responsibility by just starving to death. My Daddy use to talk about how his Daddy lost all his money back when a bunch of banks failed in the 1920s. He was out almost five bucks and he talked about it till his dying day. But he learned his lesson and never put any money into banks again.
What I can’t figure out is what happened to all the money that the big banks and customers lost. It’s got to be someplace. Money just don’t disappear. Somebody must be using a bulldozer to pile it up while people and banks run around crying about how they lost so much.
Anyhow, my advise is stop listening to this Buffet. Pay more attention to what old Rush says. He says we need a new canadate to run for President next time. By this time you’re probly real sorry you didn’t support me in my run last year. I ain’t running or nothing right now, but you can send your money to me at Redneck Convert for President, c/o Simpsons Trailer Park, Cumming. I might could decide to get back in politics again if the money’s right and I have enough to put about $150,000 into a new wardrobe. You could do a whole lot worse, you know. Best I can tell, I’m about the only real Conservative we have.
Well, it’s time for me to head down to the Church of Holiness. I hope the Rev. Postlewaite don’t put us all to sleep the way he done last Sunday. We need the Rev. Jim Bob Buice back in the pulpit bad. But the state won’t let him around kids and the church won’t go for a Adults Only policy. Have a good day everybody.
TnGelding
March 1st, 2009
9:19 am
At this point. But why take the risk of letting it happen again? Why not force the hedge funds to orderly liquidate? If Freddie, Fannie, AIG, Bear Sterns and the other large investment banks had been allowed to go bankrupt there would have been trillions of dollars of losses, and still might be. In hindsight, the fed and treasury probably should have “invested” in Lehman, too.
Rascal
March 1st, 2009
9:28 am
Anyone foolish enough to believe that Obama’s plan will work and is better than getting government out of so many unconstitutional activities, should start moving away from the oceans before they rise 4 feet and engulf your families. Hard to believe we have arrived at this point, but no harder to believe than the fact that we have been suckered by Al Gore and his nutty caravan of doomsayers for the past 10 years.
Prepare for civil war, not North Vs South, but the many states that will soon begin seceding from the union over economic disaster.
I Report/ You Whine
March 1st, 2009
9:33 am
Weaning these entities from the public teat will be a political challenge.
No it won’t.
As long as there is a liberal majority US government, the attempt won’t even be made.
Diaper wearing, government dependent sissies and hysterics are an opportunity for democrats, not a challenge.
mm
March 1st, 2009
9:52 am
Wow, I love the wingnut predictions. They certainly are a bunch of Nostradumb@sses.
Mrs. Godzilla
March 1st, 2009
9:53 am
Wise words Mr. Buffett.
When the going gets tough, the tough get fired up and ready to go.
Audacious.
RW, old friend,
Freedom and Liberty, the pusuit of happiness, a more perfect union, domestic tranquility, the general welfare……are things WE ALL believe in.
The issue is how do we get there. Seems the nation wants to move into the left hand lane and take a turn. You and the loyal minority opposition do not agree.
That’s what all us 200 ton commie pinko socialist libs with wretched lonely lives think.
Thanks for the Robert Palmer link. I stood in the pit and watched him do that live years ago and got my hearing back two or three days later.
My favorite, “Give me an inch”, I can’t find on video.
I like this one, most gals do:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuAbc5tLVlQ
I do so hope we get a bit of snow. Just enough for a snowball or two at Joe. Cold wet clean economically sound fun.
Bud Wiser
March 1st, 2009
10:01 am
Interesting that Buffett uses poker terminology when referring to the Democrats and their spending, I mean stimulus programs there are executing. The fact that he is a multi-billionaire, and losing 60-70% of his fortune in te overall scheme of things, is irellevant to him. He’ll still have a few billion left to play with.
Meanwhile, the Democrats continue to shoot craps with all of the rest of our money, then will undoubtedly come back to us for more in future huge tax increases, which quite frankly, will be the final shovel of dirt onto this graveyard-bound economy.
And you cannot lay this one on Bush loonies, try as you might, and screaming and wailing to the contrary, you just can’t do it.
Hopefully, we may be witnessing the absolute very beginning of the end of the Democratic Party as we know it, as your Chosen One flushes the economy down a toilet hole so deep that it may take decades to recover. Our only hope seems to reside in that of the American people to step forward, take charge, and expel these looters and thieves of our heirs futures. Two years from change, two years from change; I pray that we are not totally destroyed by these charlatans before then.
The only thing better than witnessing the destruction of the Democratic Party from within and without, would be to see the Republicans disappear as well, and perhaps a new two or three party structure to emerge. It is painfully obvious that the cronies from within both as they exist now are incapable of any sort of effective governing.
RW-(the original)
March 1st, 2009
10:01 am
Mrs. G.,
If it does snow you might want to consider sobering up before you venture out into it.
Jay B,
I love the line where you think Buffet has it just right. I’m sure he’s comforted that someone that just last fall was writing stories about being scared to look at a 401K statement has now put themselves on a par with him in the world of high finance, even though his letter doesn’t seem to say what your headline would have us believe.
Adam Helsinger
March 1st, 2009
10:04 am
Thank you for your article. We must not forget that he also said:
“”Though the path has not been smooth, our economic system has worked extraordinarily well over time,” he said. “It has unleashed human potential as no other system has, and it will continue to do so. America’s best days lie ahead.” (http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE51R0US20090228)
Thanks,
Adam
http://sites.google.com/site/adamhelsinger/
TnGelding
March 1st, 2009
10:06 am
Rascal
March 1st, 2009
9:28 am
Did you miss that the state’s were on the federal government teat? The house of cards (credit) collapsed on Bush.
TnGelding
March 1st, 2009
10:18 am
Bud Wiser
March 1st, 2009
10:01 am
So far he has only lost about 50% of his wealth. But you better believe he is feeling it just like you would be if you had lost 50% OF YOURS. It makes you feel foolish.
We were warned of Mr. Duhbya’s risky schemes and fuzzy math.
That depends on what your definition of huge is. But I’m wiling to increase our income tax obligation from $2 to $2,000, and would even be willing to go to $4,000 if everyone else paid their “fair” share.
Sam
March 1st, 2009
10:19 am
The annointed one in Camp Lejune said:
“We sent our troops to Iraq to do away with Saddam Hussein’s regime — and you got the job done. We kept our troops in Iraq to help establish a sovereign government — and you got the job done. And we will leave the Iraqi people with a hard-earned opportunity to live a better life — that is your achievement; that is the prospect that you have made possible.”
I thought Barry said that this little private war of GWB was hopeless and doomed to failure?? I would call Barry a four-letter word, but instead I’ll call him something far worse…..politician (and a lawyer)
I Report/ You Whine
March 1st, 2009
10:21 am
Democrats, of course, will say socialism is not at all what they intend. They will say they strive only to provide “equal opportunity” for all. Yet, if recent American history has taught us anything, it is that Democratic handout programs turn into spirit-crushing disasters in which the participants, instead of quickly finding self-reliance, find permanent hopelessness.-LasVegasReview
Lookin good for Hairy Reed 2010, ain’t it?
TnGelding
March 1st, 2009
10:27 am
Sam
March 1st, 2009
10:19 am
I voted for O! but I didn’t like those lines either. He should have said George W. Bush instead of we. But the misadventure in Iraq is far from over.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Iraqi_police_shoot_dead_four_US_0224.html
TnGelding
March 1st, 2009
10:29 am
I Report/ You Whine
March 1st, 2009
10:21 am
Good riddance to Reid and hopefully Pelosi too.
Dave R
March 1st, 2009
10:30 am
Gelding, don’t wait for anyone else to do it! Your government is in trouble! The children of America are in danger! The giant maw that takes is starving!
Stop hiding behind the “if everyone else will pay their fair share” thing; if its the right thing to do, then just do it!
Let us all know when you’ve sent in your extra down payment on your government’s investment scheme. Heck, if you can find a way to post the canceled check to them, we’d all like to see how you took the decent way to ensure your government is fully funded.
Don’t wait! Send in your check today!
Mrs. Godzilla
March 1st, 2009
10:38 am
RW
Your comment was rude and uncalled for.
Group hug for RW.
TnGelding
March 1st, 2009
10:39 am
Dave R
March 1st, 2009
10:30 am
I’ll pass on that, my little contribution wouldn’t matter unless everyone else did it too. but I am thinking about sending a donation to reduce the national debt that I owe from 1987. I’ve proposed a tax amnesty for all.
How do you make a contribution to reduce the debt?
Make your check payable to the Bureau of the Public Debt, and in the memo section, notate that it is a Gift to reduce the Debt Held by the Public. Mail your check to:
Attn Dept G
Bureau Of the Public Debt
P. O. Box 2188
Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188
RW-(the original)
March 1st, 2009
10:51 am
Mrs G.,
Usually in life you come up with a set of hints that can be applied to alert you to various situations. One of mine is that when someone starts babbling to me about Robert Palmer for no apparent reason they must be under the influence of something.
AmVet
March 1st, 2009
11:03 am
TnGelding, actually messiers Bush and Cheney, aka Dumb & Dumber, contend, “No one saw this coming.” These were the two valorous and capable men who also said Iraqi oil would pay for the occupation. As well as saying…..you get the point.
Though none have the hair down there to admit it, this handful of misguided, intentionally ignorant, flat-earthers voted for these liars. Twice! And worse, they continue, even to this day to shuck and grin for them and that repudiated fake conservatism — the cornerstone of their utterly useless, outdated dogma and failed policies.
These misfits, who almost without exception loathe “evil liberal education” based on enlightenment, science and reason (and not the Bible and Ayn Rand) could not even begin to explain what has happened since September. Not in any cogent or in-depth manner. Who are we kidding here? Not even in a summary. That is exceptionally difficult to do when one cannot see the big picture and try to grasp the complexity and totality of this situation. But focus and blather on instead about minutiae like ACORN or homophobically obsess over Barney Frank, for example.
And anyone who has read their posts over time knows that sadly this damning indictment is not untrue on any of these matters discussed here from climate change to the corporate destruction of capitalism to the definition of conservatism itself. Have you ever read where one of these five or six regular stooges has proffered one? Ever? Anyone? Bueller?
It’s basically all epithet-laden drive-bys, shooting the messenger (but seldom the message) and simplistic sloganeering with nothing but cherry-picked, out of context pieces of information from dubious, unsourced locales.
Nary a whit of comprehensive evidence to make a cogent compelling case. That would actually take some education (Ewwww) and concerted effort, and clearly these men are much too busy being ultra-successful, to do such, when it can easily be replaced with moronic sloganeering, empty catch phrases and sunspots.
Emotionally unhinged and unhappy buffoons with opinions and endless red herrings. Which is fine on a political blog, to be sure.
Just never persuasive.
Hell, Redneck says more in one witty post that this lot of unread loons does all week long. No matter the topic.
Out til later.
Tis your sabbath christo-frauds. Pray for snow. And some redemption…
RW-(the original)
March 1st, 2009
11:07 am
PresBO’s budget director is on ABC right now and once he got past all the bellyaching about what they “inherited” he just said that their plan is intended to get the economy on its feet by 2013 or 2014.
What????
God help us!
Mrs. Godzilla
March 1st, 2009
11:11 am
RW
I am so sorry I mixed you up with Bud. Your comment was still rude and uncalled for.
How do you respond to the occasional wrong number?
The song I linked to can be be dedicated to you, and you still get a group hug.
Again, I apologize for causing you any inconvenience.
Midori
March 1st, 2009
11:19 am
Mrs. G,
I just came in from outside and it is sleeting some.
We shall see what develops from that.
Storms are predicted all across the US today.
Mrs. Godzilla
March 1st, 2009
11:23 am
Morning Midori,
We’re getting it too…..I want snow!
We were going to take Granny out and about and to “lady lunch” but she won’t venture out in this. Flipped a coin – heads laundry and an old movie, tails laundry and an old movie. Laundry wins.
After more of the talking heads of course.
rcs
March 1st, 2009
11:24 am
RW. I saw the interview. He’s pretty good side stepping George’s questions. It’s also pretty clear the White House is not going to challenge to earmarks in the last spending bill. Saying it’s last year’s business.
What??? We’re in a crisis, we need to make tough choices, but go ahead and pass the 500 billion because “it’s last year’s business”???
PJ
March 1st, 2009
11:46 am
Whether the current administrations ideas are good or bad is debatable. Whether they work in the long run is also debatable. But what I would like to know is what is the Republican alternative? There’s nothing there to debate. I haven’t heard anything good or bad (except may tax cuts for the rich) to even discuss. By the way, news flash, a lot of Obama’s support in the election came from individuals whose income was $100,000.00 and above. That’s why he was sneered at for being an elitist.
RW-(the original)
March 1st, 2009
11:47 am
rcs,
That rubber stamping “last year’s business” didn’t exactly sound like change to me, but lots of the earmarks in that bill are Obama’s and Biden’s so they get their pork and get to blame it on Bush too.
What a country.
God help us!
I Report/ You Whine
March 1st, 2009
11:50 am
Hey, I got about a half an inch of “global warming” on the yard.
~~~~~
It tells you something about the seriousness of the One Term president when he whines about “inheriting” a deficit that he immediately triples.
What a joke.
rcs
March 1st, 2009
11:55 am
PJ,
It’s H.R. 470: Economic Recovery and Middle-Class Tax Relief Act of 2009.
RW-(the original)
March 1st, 2009
11:57 am
PJ,
Maybe you just didn’t look hard enough.
TnGelding
March 1st, 2009
12:05 pm
I Report/ You Whine
March 1st, 2009
11:50 am
Will you make an effort to try to understand the deep doodoo we’re in?
http://www.cnbc.com/id/29177103
http://www.housingpredictor.com/longhaul.html
Sam
March 1st, 2009
12:15 pm
Hey AmVet, Every time you post, it’s like the teacher in Charlie Brown that everyone ignores: Ouaa, ouaa, ouaa, ouaa, ouaa…..
BTW, Obama STILL told the Marines how successful they were…..NOPE! (….oops, I meant HOPE!)
Bud Wiser
March 1st, 2009
12:27 pm
2 inches of snow here and still counting………
And Gelding, I must be smarter than Buffett because I have only lost about 40% of my investments so far. I am sure that The Messiah will have figured out yet another way to drain that further by the time I finish typing this sentence.
@@
March 1st, 2009
12:28 pm
One would have to be a dang “jackass” to swallow a pill as big as the one dem pols are pushing, jay!
Thppbbbtttt…
No
thank
you!!!
Should have given it to the truly sick…..let ‘em go down slowly and surely before the infection spread to the rest of us.
The prognosis for America is not promising.
Sam
March 1st, 2009
12:29 pm
Actually no Bud Wiser, Barry was too busy going to a Bulls game….in the midst of the “greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression”. Tonight, he’s got tickets to see his good buddy…Ludacris
RW-(the original)
March 1st, 2009
12:30 pm
rcs,
There’s a site called OpenCongress that tracks various bills and their status, plus posts news articles about them.
Here’s a note they’ve got on HR 470
We are not currently finding any news articles on this topic using our daily automated search of Google News. However, if you know of a relevant news article to display here, OpenCongress site editors have the ability to add it manually.
No wonder the willfully uninformed around here get away with claiming the Republicans are just saying no while offering no alternatives.
PJ
March 1st, 2009
12:34 pm
To: rcs & RW (the original) – Thanks, but weren’t permanent tax cuts for the rich suppose to do the same thing. I think not. Tax cuts are fine when there are no wars, disasters, emergencies and the national debt is in line, but since these these things seldom if ever are plausible it seems to me that our country needs funds in order to run an efficient government. Tax cuts are your only rallying cry and they don’t work. Everyone needs to pay their fair share. If a house is burning down no one is asking how much did you pay in taxes. The fire department puts out the fire and saves lives. If a hurricane or tornado sweeps through a community or a state no one should worry if help is on the way. If we are at war service members need equipment that works for them. We need safe food and drugs. We need well staffed police departments. We need schools that have qualified teachers and a better than average education environment. We need a health care system that serves all the people equally well. These things and so much more are or should be provided or over seen by our local, state, and federal governments. “Freedom isn’t free” isn’t just a war cry. It is also how goods and services are paid for.
TnGelding
March 1st, 2009
12:35 pm
Yeah, I wish he’d shut up and make Tiny Tim do something. I guess it’s better to wait until they fully understand what the problem is and how to address it. I’m beginning to think it can’t be fixed.
@@
March 1st, 2009
12:36 pm
Mrs. G:
You must be the most gullible woman living.
Palmer’s declaration in a song that “Women are Smarter” is a male ploy.
How many women are raising men’s children alone?
Had Robert tried to pull that ploy on me, I’da sent him packing with a song entitled…..
“Palmer, Meet Robert”.
RW-(the original)
March 1st, 2009
12:50 pm
PJ,
There’s no such thing as a “tax cut for the rich.” It’s just a bumper sticker.
PJ
March 1st, 2009
12:55 pm
Hum, Obama has been in office about 40 day and Republicans wonder why nothing has happened when they gave Bush and co. eight years to work the miracles that never happened and domestically they put us in a situation that hasn’t been seen since the Great Depression. I will not even mention our international standing. Will wonders never cease.
rcs
March 1st, 2009
1:00 pm
PJ, did you read HR 470?
RW-(the original)
March 1st, 2009
1:01 pm
OFF TOPIC
If you missed it here’s the whole hour and a half of Rush’s twenty minute address to CPAC
PJ
March 1st, 2009
1:04 pm
To: RW-(the original) – So I guess tax cuts the Republicans call for the middle class and the small businesses are just refrigerator magnets.
Midori
March 1st, 2009
1:05 pm
Mrs. G,
getting some good accumulation now. The snowflakes are huge.
Hope Joe has lots of fun in it.
PJ
March 1st, 2009
1:08 pm
rcs – get me a link and I will peruse it.
RW-(the original)
March 1st, 2009
1:11 pm
PJ,
No those are real tax cuts. A tax cut for someone earning a very large amount of money is also a tax cut, but someone rich can very easily choose not to earn an income.
AmVet
March 1st, 2009
1:12 pm
Sam, at 12:15, it is most gratifying, and certainly enlightening, to learn that you speak for “everyone”. Gawd knows, you need to. Your “counter-arguments” sure are scintillating. Are you positive that “everyone” isn’t just you and the gerbil in your pocket?
And thanks for unwittingly helping prove my very point, Yosemite Sam. But please do keep reading.
PJ, at 11:46, what did you expect?! Something other than a Faux News propaganda piece replete with trickle-down-your-thigh Reaganomics and voo-doo tweaking of “porkulus”? This is the superior alternative??? Especially given the fiscal conservatism and basic competency shown over the past thirty years by the GOP, forgive my suspicions. This unexplained and non-analyzed “explanation” from one of our regular “conservatives” who honestly believes Darwin and his 150 year old treatise on evolution is completely in error because there are “holes in the fossil record”. I simply cannot this make shiite up, at least any that is more entertaining.
To wit, the RNC chair, HeadRush, punctuated by chest thumping and fist-pumping, proudly yet again proclaims the moronically misleading, Republiconned mantra, “We conservatives(?) have not done a good enough job of just laying out basically who we are, because we make the mistake of assuming that people know.”
Yep, that’s unquestionably it, Mr. “Volcanoes have caused dramatic and sudden global warming” Limbaugh.
That explains these back-to-back electoral humiliations nationwide? One so horrific, it was unprecedented in the nation’s long history. A combined 61 – 4 floor wiping.
We’ve not done a good enough job of getting our message out! And if only we had been MORE conservative!!! ROTFLMAO over and over and over again. (Psssst, the problem IS the message, you freeloading lardass.)
Let’s see here, CLEARLY you are the Very King and the ultimate linchpin (or is it lynch-pin?) of this supposed “message” right? You’ve been on the air five days a week, every week, every month for how many years??? And have how many daily listeners??? And have been quoted, cited, replayed and referenced how many zillions of times, from coast to coast???
And yet the message of who you “really are” is not out there????
Wowzers. To me it is absolutely stunning that a major political party in this nation is still completely dominated by craven prevaricators such as this man.
Here’s my prediction, Mr. Misunderstood, until you and your like-mindless Old White Guys in the Party of the Deep South die off, the GOP will remain hijacked and hamstrung.
And though a few of the moderate and less irrational voices in the Republican Party are beginning desperately to try and distance themselves from this moronic message of yesteryear, those in the anti-progess lunatic fringe still run the “conservatives” freak show known as the Once Grand Old Party.
And unless this inanity and utter untrustworthiness doesn’t disappear very soon, I predict there may well be yet another forty year stretch where the Republicans are the whining-only, emasculated minority party…