Warren Buffet Says U.S. Economy in "Shambles"
CNBC’s Alex Crippen posted a summary transcript of a live interview today between Betsy Quick and Warren Buffet (includes a link to the full transcript). Here’s a portion of the interview from the summary:
“While the economy is a "shambles" and likely to stay that way for some time, he remains optimistic there will eventually be a recovery over a period of years.
“BECKY: The last time we sat down to talk to you was on May 4, and at that point you told us that you think we're in an economic war right now. How much progress do you think we've made in that war?
“BUFFETT: Well, it's been pretty flat. I get figures on 70-odd businesses, a lot of them daily. Everything that I see about the economy is that we've had no bounce. The financial system was really where the crisis was last September and October, and that's been surmounted and that's enormously important. But in terms of the economy coming back, it takes a while. There were a lot of excesses to be wrung out and that process is still underway and it looks to me like it will be underway for quite a while. In the (Berkshire Hathaway) annual report I said the economy would be in a shambles this year and probably well beyond. I'm afraid that's true.”
With a vote scheduled on cap-and-trade legislation in the House of Representation on Friday, and considering the growls about cap-and-trade posted yesterday, the following excerpt from the interview summary is especially relevant:
“Buffett repeated his criticism of "cap and trade" as a method to control pollution, saying it would be a huge, regressive tax.” (emphasis added)