OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The United States’ economy is in better shape than the presidential candidates make it seem, investor Warren Buffett said Saturday, even though businesses like his still face challenges.
In his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, Buffett didn’t name specific candidates or issues, but noted that the negative drumbeat about the economy, health care reform and income inequality may get voters down about the future.
“It’s an election year, and candidates can’t stop speaking about our country’s problems (which, of course, only they can solve),” he said, adding later, “that view is dead wrong: The babies being born in America today are the luckiest crop in history.”
Buffett noted that there will still be economic troubles as business evolves, but that the country needs to make sure it has a solid safety net to help people who lose jobs.
“The answer in such disruptions is not the restraining or outlawing of actions that increase productivity. Americans would not be living nearly as well as we do if we had mandated that 11 million people should forever be employed in farming,” he wrote.
Buffett pointed out that change also creates challenges for Berkshire’s businesses. For instance, its BNSF railroad is certain to haul less coal in the future and Geico insurance could be hurt by driverless cars.
He assured shareholders that Berkshire’s businesses will adapt just as the company did when its original Berkshire Hathaway textile operation failed.
Buffett’s letter is one of the most well-read documents the business world each year because of his successful track record and his knack for explaining complicated subjects in simple terms.
Buffett said the book value of Berkshire’s businesses improved 6.4 percent last year even as its stock price fell 12.5 percent. When dividends are factored in, the S&P 500 gained 1.4 percent by comparison. Buffett has warned that it will be increasingly hard for Berkshire to continue beating the market because the company is so large.
Berkshire Hathaway employs more than 360,000 people at its eclectic mix of companies, including insurance, utilities, railroad, manufacturing and retail firms. Berkshire also holds significant stakes in Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo, American Express, IBM and other companies.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
If we have to have a billionaire running for President, I would much prefer Warren over the one who is running. He has forgotten more about the economy and business than Trump ever knew or will know.
The economy is just fine. The problem is that average Americans are being squeezed between stagnant wages and increasing cost for things like housing and a college education; and all the while being asked why they can’t work for $3/day like the Chinese. The workers, the people who actually create the wealth should get the chance to achieve their full potential and get a reasonable part of the wealth they create. The masters of the universe on Wall Street could care less about both, they’re just fine, thank you.
I keep wondering whether a leader will appear who can solve this trainwreck peacefully, or will we decend into an American version of the French revolution.
Bernie Sanders sees this problem, Hillary Clinton does not.
Why do you say Hillary Clinton does not? From her very first speech of this campaign she made this situation a core part of her campaign, even using language very close to that of Elizabeth Warren. So where do you get your facts on this?
[Wealthy] “babies being born in America today are the luckiest”.
While it’s better to be wealthy, of course, the median baby born in the US today will live better and longer than 99.99% of all the humans who ever lived. In terms of health and comfort, the average Joe lives better than royalty did a few hundred years ago. The negativity is waaayy overdone and if you claim to be a progressive you should consider that the more such negativity becomes pervasive, the more that helps the right wing, particularly a certain candidate with bad hair, whose rallying cry is “Everything sucks, and I’m gonna fix it” (as if everyone lived in splendor in some past era).