Thank you to Dah Hui Lau (dahhuilaudavid.blogspot.com) for sending me these videos
Part 1: Most Berkshire Businesses “Inching Along”
Part 2: The “Zebra” That Got Away –
Part 3: “Elephant Gun” Targets & Riding the Railroad –
Part 4: Blame Bankers, Bankers, Bankers? –
Part 5: Cars & Bricks –
Regarding our investment in Ford $F
CARL: Speaking of cars, someone who knows an awful lot about that business from multiple directions, Becky, is the man who’s with you this morning, Warren, in Omaha.
BECKY: That’s right. In fact, he was glad to hear Mike Jackson just talking. He said this is important and he’d like to talk about it. What are you thinking?
BUFFETT: Well, it— what Mike talked about is— gets back to that regenerative capacity of capitalism. We were sorting out 16 million cars a year not so many years ago. When it fell to nine and fraction million, when people were panicked, it was going to come back from that. We were— the scrappage rate was higher. Americans haven’t lost their love affair with cars. More Americans were going to be in the country every year. So now it’s back to, is— I think he said 12.4 or something like that in February.
BECKY: Mm-hmm.
BUFFETT: And it’s going to come back beyond that. I mean, it— well beyond that. And that really isn’t a function of saying cash for clunkers or isn’t a function of monetary policy or fiscal policy, it’s a— it’s a function of the fact that Mike is out there trying to
figure out ways to sell more cars, people want to buy more cars, money is cheap, the economy is coming back, and it feeds on itself over time. And you will see 12.4 look like a very low number in a— in a few years.BECKY: Mm-hmm.BUFFETT: And that is happening throughout America. It happens in different places at different times. It hasn’t happened in homes yet because there was a bigger surplus to clean out. But in the case of cars, you can postpone it a day or a week or a month buying it, but scrappage rates count over time.
Part 6: China & America’s Diminishing Dominance –
Part 7: What Should Happen to CEOs of Failed Companies –
CNBC Warren Buffett Transcript March 2 2011 (click to open)