SOURCE: THE STAR ONLINE
WASHINGTON: Now that the worst of the economic crisis is past and recovery is slowly under way, Congress must halt the mounting increase in U.S. debt to avoid damage to long-term growth and destruction of the dollar, Warren Buffett is urging.
The plainspoken billionaire weighed in with his view in an Op-Ed piece published in The New York Times Wednesday, saying that once recovery is solidified, lawmakers need to exercise "extraordinary political will" and slow the printing of money to finance the spike in debt.
That huge spending for financial bailout and economic stimulus was sorely needed to rescue the economy in its greatest peril since the 1930s, Buffett said, but now "unchecked emissions" of dollars "will certainly cause the purchasing power of currency to melt" the way runaway carbon emissions will likely melt icebergs.
With government spending now nearly double what it is taking in, "truly major changes in both taxes and outlays will be required," Buffett wrote.
"A revived economy can't come close to bridging that sort of gap."
Buffett, one of the world's wealthiest men, enjoys opining on issues of the day.
And as the "Oracle of Omaha" and head of a successful investment firm, his views carry weight in the public arena.
He has gained a sharper political profile in recent years and has spoken out, for example, on the obligation of the privileged to help the poor.
Buffett was a top economic adviser to Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger's first campaign for California governor and advised Democrat John Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004.
Last September at the height of the financial turmoil, Buffett's firm, Berkshire Hathway Inc., rushed in with a $5 billion in investment in Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs Group Inc., a move viewed as a vote of confidence for a survivor of a crisis that felled two of its investment banking peers.
The economy "is now out of the emergency room and appears to be on a slow path to recovery," Buffett wrote in the Op-Ed.
"But enormous dosages of monetary medicine continue to be administered and, before long, we will need to deal with their side effects. For now, most of those effects are invisible and could indeed remain latent for a long time. Still, their threat may be as ominous as that posed by the financial crisis itself."
Because of the deficit, the amount of U.S. debt that is publicly held likely will rise to around 56 percent of Gross Domestic Product this fiscal year ending Oct. 1, from 41 percent last year, Buffett noted.
The three ways of financing the rising debt - borrowing from other countries, borrowing from Americans or printing money - all carry problems, he said.
"The United States is spewing a potentially damaging substance into our economy - greenback emissions," Buffett wrote. - AP
Showing posts with label Warren Buffett. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Warren Buffett. Show all posts
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Talk on Buffett’s investment principles
Source: THE STAR ONLINE
KUALA LUMPUR: Warren Buffett may have reported some huge losses in the investments he made through Berkshire Hathaway Inc over the last couple of months, but the recent quarterly results only show that a longer-term view is necessary to evaluate his investment returns, says Robert P. Miles.
“As in most of the mistakes he made in the past, Buffett would probably say ‘a little more time please’,” Miles, an author, professional speaker and Warren Buffett expert, told StarBiz in an email.
Buffett, whose investment strategies and techniques are still regarded by most as the best and most successful ever, was not spared from the recent global financial crisis.
Weighed down by losses from investments and derivative bets, his investment arm Berkshire Hathaway posted a net loss of US$1.53bil (RM5.43bil) – its worst loss in at least two decades – for the quarter to March 31, compared with a profit of US$940mil in the same period a year ago.
But the company returned to the black with a second-quarter profit of US$3.29bil on improved stock markets and credit derivative gains.
“The global financial crisis presented Buffett some unbelievable opportunities to invest in preferred stocks such as Goldman Sachs, General Electric Company and Swiss Re,” Miles said, adding that railroads and banks were some of Buffett’s favourite plays currently.
For instance, Buffett in May increased his stakes in Wells Fargo & Co and US Bancorp by about 4.3% and 2.2%, respectively, when both counters were trading at their lowest prices in more than a decade.
“Buffett understands banks,” Miles said, “and he obviously believes in the long-term health of the banks, and he thinks their managers are rational, candid and doing the right thing for their shareholders.”
According to Miles, Buffett is an excellent example of corporate governance and should be studied around the world.
“He has greatly influenced many corporations – particularly those in which he holds stakes – such as in the way they expense their stock options, change their accounting procedures and make transparent their executive perks in their annual reports,” Miles said, adding that Buffett had resigned from some boards that had not followed his advice.
Miles will be in Kuala Lumpur to conduct a one-day seminar on Buffett’s principles of investment on Thursday at Istana Hotel.
Organised by the Malaysian Alliance of Corporate Directors, the seminar will feature Miles speaking on Warren Buffett Corporate Governance: Building a World Class Board of Directors and Astute Investing in Turbulent Times: Why Warren Buffett Prefers Declining Markets.
KUALA LUMPUR: Warren Buffett may have reported some huge losses in the investments he made through Berkshire Hathaway Inc over the last couple of months, but the recent quarterly results only show that a longer-term view is necessary to evaluate his investment returns, says Robert P. Miles.
“As in most of the mistakes he made in the past, Buffett would probably say ‘a little more time please’,” Miles, an author, professional speaker and Warren Buffett expert, told StarBiz in an email.
Buffett, whose investment strategies and techniques are still regarded by most as the best and most successful ever, was not spared from the recent global financial crisis.
Weighed down by losses from investments and derivative bets, his investment arm Berkshire Hathaway posted a net loss of US$1.53bil (RM5.43bil) – its worst loss in at least two decades – for the quarter to March 31, compared with a profit of US$940mil in the same period a year ago.
But the company returned to the black with a second-quarter profit of US$3.29bil on improved stock markets and credit derivative gains.
“The global financial crisis presented Buffett some unbelievable opportunities to invest in preferred stocks such as Goldman Sachs, General Electric Company and Swiss Re,” Miles said, adding that railroads and banks were some of Buffett’s favourite plays currently.
For instance, Buffett in May increased his stakes in Wells Fargo & Co and US Bancorp by about 4.3% and 2.2%, respectively, when both counters were trading at their lowest prices in more than a decade.
“Buffett understands banks,” Miles said, “and he obviously believes in the long-term health of the banks, and he thinks their managers are rational, candid and doing the right thing for their shareholders.”
According to Miles, Buffett is an excellent example of corporate governance and should be studied around the world.
“He has greatly influenced many corporations – particularly those in which he holds stakes – such as in the way they expense their stock options, change their accounting procedures and make transparent their executive perks in their annual reports,” Miles said, adding that Buffett had resigned from some boards that had not followed his advice.
Miles will be in Kuala Lumpur to conduct a one-day seminar on Buffett’s principles of investment on Thursday at Istana Hotel.
Organised by the Malaysian Alliance of Corporate Directors, the seminar will feature Miles speaking on Warren Buffett Corporate Governance: Building a World Class Board of Directors and Astute Investing in Turbulent Times: Why Warren Buffett Prefers Declining Markets.
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