Monday, October 6, 2008

Interview with Warren Buffet on Charlie Rose

Here are a few quotes from this Charlie Rose interview with Warren Buffet:

"You want to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful."

"They've (Americans have) seen 8% of America's bank deposits in the United States have moved - very skillfully I might say - within the last couple of weeks."

"This is an economic Pearl Harbor."

"If you look at the American public - they have $20 trillion worth of residential homes and they've got $20 trillion worth of stocks, very roughly. Those are both the two big assets of the American family and they are both down dramatically."

"If I got a chance to take 1% of the deal (be a partner with the US in the bailout plan) I'd take it." There's money to be made because the US government has staying power.

"I've said (derivatives) are possible weapons of mass financial destruction and they have been. They destroyed AIG and they certainly contributed to the destruction of Bear Stearns and Lehma."

Americans have improved themselves financially in this century by a rate of 7:1. Some centuries have seen 1%. America's economy is strong.

-Believes strongly in mark-to-market accounting.

-"Inflation is a likely consequence of our decisions now."




-Warren Buffet