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Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

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Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#71

Post by [deleted] »

next_xibalba wrote: post #40
tchalla wrote: post #24

Buffet on Tariffs > “It’s a big mistake, in my view, when you have seven and a half billion people that don’t like you very well, and you got 300 million that are crowing in some way about how well they’ve done - I don’t think it’s right, and I don’t think it’s wise,” Buffett said. “The United States won. I mean, we have become an incredibly important country, starting from nothing 250 years ago. There’s not been any…

Buffett actually does share a fear of trade deficits, though. His proposed solution, as an alternative to tariffs, were "import certificates"-essentially a marketable credit required to import goods. These would be earned via exports by exporters, be freely priced and traded, and would essentially bind import levels to export levels.

[deleted]

Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#73

Post by nabla9 »

dehrmann wrote: post #41
8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote: post #16

I always run across great quotes from Warren Buffett, but I never spent any time actually reading any of his writings or anything written about him. What's the best place to start to absorb some of his wisdom? Anything that's applicable to startups, tech, and life in general, beyond being the CEO of a holding company?

Not to diminish any of his accomplishments, but read his quotes and story as being a product of his time. He famously missed out on a lot of solid tech investments because of his background as a value investor. Value investing doesn't exist the same way it did when Berkshire started making a name for itself. Tech investing also isn't them same as 1997, 2004, or 2010.

Berkshire has outperformed Nasdaq and SP500 from the IPO (May 9, 1996), 10y, 5y, 1y time periods and he has now $340B in cash.

All this with low risk holding lots of cash. He has not missed anything.

Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#74

Post by ChadNauseam »

chrisco255 wrote: post #69
nabla9 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really a non-problem. Net capital inflows into the U.S. = U.S. trade deficit. The balance of payments is simply: Sales of assets – Purchases of assets = Purchases of goods – Sales of goods If you balance the trade, it means foreigners must stop investing into the US.

If you balance the trade, it means reduced foreign ownership of U.S. assets, yes, which means ownership of U.S. assets by domestic citizens will increase. One of the primary problems with an unbalanced trade deficit is that your own inhabitants are left with less wealth over time, as assets are sold off to fund consumption.

That’s zero-sum thinking. Increases demand for US assets can make americans wealthier in many ways (e.g. providing more capital to american businesses).

Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#75

Post by dragonwriter »

chrisco255 wrote: post #69
nabla9 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really a non-problem. Net capital inflows into the U.S. = U.S. trade deficit. The balance of payments is simply: Sales of assets – Purchases of assets = Purchases of goods – Sales of goods If you balance the trade, it means foreigners must stop investing into the US.

If you balance the trade, it means reduced foreign ownership of U.S. assets, yes, which means ownership of U.S. assets by domestic citizens will increase. One of the primary problems with an unbalanced trade deficit is that your own inhabitants are left with less wealth over time, as assets are sold off to fund consumption.

> If you balance the trade, it means reduced foreign ownership of U.S. assets, yes, which means ownership of U.S. assets by domestic citizens will increase.

Proportionately, perhaps, but that doesn't mean by value of assets owned. It just means the aggregate value of assets in the US will be less.

Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#76

Post by nabla9 »

cromulent wrote: post #44
xNeil wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not by Buffett, but you'll love Poor Charlie's Alamanack, by Charlie Munger, his lifelong business partner. https://www.stripe.press/poor-charlies-almanack/cover

Buffet said of Munger: > “In terms of managing money, there wasn’t anybody better in the world to talk to for many, many decades than Charlie.” Buffet gets all the press, but he acknowledges Munger as a huge part, if you listen.

Munger really gave Buffet wings. They did it together.

Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#77

Post by atombender »

wood_spirit wrote: post #27
ivape wrote: post #17

It's kind of a damn shame a man like that was not tapped for any major economic position in the government. I don't know how men like Peter Navarro got so far. In a sense, all the money in the world didn't actually fulfill his true potential, and I say that with the utmost respect.

> I don't know how men like Peter Navarro got so far. It’s a weird story. IIRC in the run for president before trumps first term he sent Jared Kushner to find out about trade. Kushner browsed Amazon, looking at book covers, and picked Navarro’s book because he liked the title… and the rest is history

Trump should have hired Ron Vara [1], seems like a much more competent guy.

[1] https://www.instagram.com/reel/DINJlumRqed/

Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#78

Post by Someone »

maxilevi wrote: post #68
photochemsyn wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the US government really wanted to bring back industrial manufacturing, tax policy is one obvious route - eg a 2/3 tax on billionaire and corporate wealth, such as on the huge pile of cash Buffet-Berkshire is sitting on, but then offer a way out - invest that cash in domestic manufacturing and R & D and it won't be taxed. This could motivate the private sector to go back to the Bell Labs model, too.

As if the government could do better capital allocation in the economy than buffett

Why couldn’t they, for the citizens of the USA? Buffett likely would not allocate it to optimize the outcome for US citizens.

Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#79

Post by ironmagma »

buckle8017 wrote: post #52
andrewl wrote: post #33

Buffett worked, at least informally, with the Obama administration on some financial policy issues. And he is a proponent of greater taxes on the very rich. Here's one short video (2:46) in which he talks about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJzTsTU1xL8

[flagged]

Do you know that a system is more powerful than an impulse?

Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#80

Post by nabla9 »

unsnap_biceps wrote: post #9
rufus_foreman wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would assume this means that he is not in great health. Hopefully I'm wrong and he just decided that 85 years or so of hustling for dollars was enough.

At 94, if he had a health concern, I don't think he'd be planning out 7 months for stepping down.

He probably took a health insurance and plans to cash in.
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