Warren Buffett Has It Right
The more I read Warren
Buffett's comments regarding business and economics the more I believe that he
has more practical sense than all of congress combined. Today on CNBC Mr.
Buffet stated that it is time to treat our economic problems as if we were at
war. In doing so our congressional political parties have to put their partisan
differences aside and treat our president the way we would in a full scale war
situation. In an all out war, the people need to believe that we will win and
the president must be commander in chief.
Buffett (along with Krugman, Stieglitz and most economists) stated that confidence
is necessary for an economic recovery to take place. As long as the
congressional Republicans fight everything President Obama tries to accomplish
and the Democrats try to add pet projects to every piece of stimulation
legislation, the public will have serious doubts about the prospects for
recovery.
It is time to end the
fighting if we are to preserve the nation. Recovery is a matter of national
security and we should all be a part of it. The problems that will arise from
the tactics used to stimulate a recovery are far more manageable than the slide
that will turn into a plunge if we do not act. Monetary Policy has done well at
preventing a full scale plunge. However, monetary policy has reached its limit
because we are now in what economists call a liquidity trap. It is time to let
Fiscal Policy do its job.
The Democrats are not "adding pet projects to every stimulus legislation." It's that the Republicans call everything pork. There's no equivalency here.
March 9, 2009 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, the Democrats are providing the Republicans the excuse to derail the vital parts of the legislation. They (we) need to stop doing that. These extras divert attention away from the needed fiscal policy stimuli and make much of middle America believe that all of the legislation is bad.
March 9, 2009 5:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
What extras?
March 9, 2009 6:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for taking the time to write this. Seeing it would be even better.
Brother can you spare a clip?
March 9, 2009 5:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
OBAMA’S KNOWLEDGE GAP
Unfortunately Obama is showing the gap in his understanding of critical elements at the core of what drives America.
http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2009/03/obama-third-tell.html
This administration does not understand that business and capitalists are not its enemies.
March 9, 2009 6:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well they sure as hell aren't my friends. Friends don't rip off friends like these clowns have.
C
March 9, 2009 9:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Business is just business, and economics is just economics, but international finance is war by other means.
March 9, 2009 11:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama surrounded himself with Summers and Geithner
Idiots that brought us the problem to begin with
The housing crisis was the most urgent that needed to be addressed.
This administration ignored the recommendations to cut interest rates to 4% for all homeowners.
This Country will bleed to death, and deservedly so. Ignore me you crooks at your own peril
I will not spend any of my money until I am assured I am not placing my ability to maintain a roof over my head. You call it hoarding, I'll call it self preservation.
Instead my crooked Government bails out the banks and the well healed, then robs me of my tax money and gives it to the dirty Bast...
Thank for nothing Obama, and by the way if you were counting on me to be optimistic in order to build confidence?
FORGET ABOUT IT, but then I guess you already forgot about US
March 9, 2009 11:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think Mr. Buffet also said something else in that CNBC interview that makes a lot of sense:
You don't use a declaration of war to enact a lot of pet projects that may or may not be immediately germane to winning the 'war', but are certain to inflame the opposition. Health Care, Energy, and Education reform are all worthy Democratic Party goals that I strongly support, but I have to question their immediate impact on rescuing our economy from the current sources of trouble as I understand them: Housing prices, credit, and banking. Much the same might be said of Congressional earmarking ( although the partisan context there is very different).
If we're at war, let's ACT like we're at war: Identify the immediate emergency steps required, and go for them, at the expense of all peripheral matters - or even of all matters that might be terribly IMPORTANT, but can wait awhile.
March 10, 2009 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Buffet understands economics, to be sure, but not politics. Obama knows how fickle people are. His popularity will not always be at 70%.
It seems to me his agenda is to get the things passed now. We have 300 million people in the US. Why can't some of them deal with healthcare, and others with housing, and others, and etc?!?
It seems to be it is Team Obama and, not being a dictator, he is not involved with everyone everywhere. But he is not ignorant of what everyone is doing everywhere.
At least not yet.
March 10, 2009 3:19 PM | Reply | Permalink