warren buffet is here as you know he is perhaps the world's most respected
investor is also chairman and c_e_o_ berkshire hathaway
he's been on this program many times i last spoke with him over a year ago at
the peak of the worst economic crisis system great depression at that time he
said that america been struck by the economic pearl harbor but much has
changed since then he's here to tell us how you use a global an american economy
recovery his own company reflects a progress made in recent months last week
berkshire hathaway struck eight twenty six two billion dollar deal to buy all
of burlington northern santa fe
railroad the largest acquisition company history
he called the deal at all in wager on the american economy
he's in new york return all of that could help with bill dated from
university yesterday
iteration agreed to stay over in new york annette tonight and i am pleased to
have a good friend of this program of the friend of mine back at this table
welcome
thank you charlie completed here a_t_c_
it has been
certainly from the middle of two thousand eight to the middle of two
thousand nine one incredible year monogram away so why do a lot of
chocolate
can be answered
tell me about for you
well at it was that we did was an extraordinary times this country we came
closer to a financial meltdown than than uh...
certainly anytime i've ever seen and probably in certain respects even
it was even more panic in the the great depression because it came out so fast
and so on expected and and uh...
the whole country one of the the leverage of corporations individuals and
unfortunately we have a government that responded and that was
inclusive when we talked last that that
it was will question and uh... of whether congress would wish mom like
they should they did
defiantly finding there that i i i i
without there with me and i mean in in the end the come together for
things of this vital to the country but
but we have the right people and and and washington at least if we had a group of
the the behave like a near the headlights uh...
uh... there we got run over so paulson and burning kian geiger
were the right people at the right time
and you don't know what might have happened if others have been in those
positions of power out there that
i can think of other tomato may provide the government work toward the ending
one of the would have been with us in the abyss revenue just tearing down and
do it
uh... you made some investors during that period right
general electric
goldman sachs atop
but you just pulled out the big elephant gun
meat contaminated water mark roberts yourself and i think he said it sticks
to the last nickel for this workshop
why did you do
well i i i felt was an opportunity to my a
the business that
those is going to be around for a hundred two hundred years that's that's
that's been a roll when with the american economy in a way that that the
american economy prospers leave the business will prosper so that that
that is the most efficient way of moving uh...
goods in the country it's the most uh...
environmentally friendly way of moving goods and both will send him a very
important but the biggest thing as united states is going to be going to do
well in india
we campbell guerrero dirt rider and do you have to accept it
so uh... it
so like the river that's sort of a new york we have to make it here we've got
to get anywhere i have not heard and send them
elliott but it does move
four hundred ns
stand all the time of of good four hundred and seventy miles on one gallon
of diesel that replaces adult rain replaces two hundred eighty trucks on
the road and that
it omits for us into the atmosphere that's damaging than uh... than trucking
spend animals forty brown one of them up already removed forty percent of the
goods pleasanton yet new port of entry is like houston and bring a lot of
europe
through the panama canal and we're going to more people this country and around
the using more goods over top of that
and sure there's a bad year from time to time in the next hundred years probably
fifteen bad years but but and i don't know what order of the whole peer
but i also deliver a little bit of sexual the country you know when you
call troy monitor them think about this did did he say
right on warren or do you say about this somewhat and it's bitterly chores around
came up we thought it i don't care about likely have our white combined
financially jellyfish alligator travel all level of almost nothing
and at that and if that is a really portion of the jury so but i mean he
also pointed out it is said that
you know there was
this was a regulated industries juror this was an industry that was
capital-intensive a recap of this was an industry uh...
now if you do spend money unionized do you know how you spend money in this
business
regularly every day you spent a lot of money repair tracker window at rolling
stock whatever may be so its capital intensive
and and uh...
tentative spenders regulated and it will continue the regular and continue the
cap on times and i think
that what the service provided by railroads is so important
captain in many ways are made at at at at that
it's the right way to movements around the country to the terms that you're
going to work that can do it
farm
far more attractive in terms of uh...
global warming and and and and then uh... using trucks for example so
it will be here and
if we get made
the reasonable return on the added capital investment a little break out of
capital investment
uh... will do okay admissible returns going up
reason which is good enough for the tremendous
fifty years ours looking for spectacular returns but i think i can i can find i
think that's going on in the area that we have a bit
eight or ten billion dollars to invest every year and
when you totally business and it's the same thing there i mean when we build a
bridge on a rationing or something of the short
we shouldn't expect a spectacular returns were building things at ur a
sexual society and
people-meter services that we don't have any choice in the in the case of the
electric utilities for example and sometimes in case of rail in
we should get a decent return on that and advanced enough to encourage us to
keep putting money into the business but we're not entitled a spectacular
pictures god
u_k_ recall
well it's a bit that's a big win in terms of timing john bread and if the
fact we'd
wean ourselves off cole
is that a big problem well we will win ourselves off ko overtime but with
we can't change
forty percent of electric generation the ghost of comfortable we can change that
next week or next month or next year but we will reduce over time and we should
be to join you can do the things that are any changes will be other world
there'll be more grain to move and i'll be moral all that chemicals or whatever
it may be uh... that
there will be more things moving around this country ten or twenty or thirty
years
knowing your idea about mostar
it is it a pleasing idea that no one is likely to get into the railroad business
promote if they want to come on to reproduce uh... the burlington northern
santa fe are you know it might take a hundred billion dollars are solid
billion years
they are they got their roles for me also modernize today are they not only
one or more sleep than normal for the uh... the
the railroad line
et cetera like the events as they are they're moving
far more time
uh... some miles uh... a product
uh...
uh... will with less
awesome the way of
people uh...
less in the way if you all
rental income for more efficient over the years
there were a million and a half people employed the rail industry after world
war two
now there are some mob
less than two hundred thousand united states and they're moving far more good
so it's really become a video you watch those hundred and thirty in the trains
double stacked
you have all the railroad companies in your portfolio
you're selling them i've already told them they are not that i i i don't know
i just official take the transaction i think that the government investments
but i uh...
i would've held on this if this had happened
uh... when you look at the future
there's also the argument made combat
that this is something that goes with your philosophy today get out of cash
and get into assets
as we don't know what's gonna happen to the top
cash is always a bad investment
abuses so it will be able to cash is king a year ago i mean
that's crazy coming cash wasn't producing anything and it was surely a
noun value over time
i know you always want to sure have enough time to have her back because i
think my god you are you sure to rally to get out at which they don't have you
don't have access to the maserati and cash
we will always have enough cash around what anytime we have surplus cash around
i'm unhappy i mean i would much rather have a good businesses in cash and and
uh...
we found a chance in the last year thereabouts to deploy weekly came and
with something over forty billion a camera and we've got about twenty
billion dollar and we've had some earning so we would put a lot of cash
for work
and i like that no i'd much rather out of the business
uh... that cash
hot and it is a hedge against the dollar
begins at all assets are edgy and set up a dollar on and that
all of you know is that the dollar is going to be worthless
ten twenty
thirty years from now ice a worth what's not working chellam notes left
but i think it will be a factor or special almost every person that i go
back over
the question is how much depreciate in value but cash
cash is not a place that uh... that-and why is it
well there's always gonna be worthless because will will be mo
put more of a man relation to the amount of goods and are moving there
and all of it
week if we drop
we dropped a billion dollars of cash and every household united states today
everybody feel very good
except the people invest in things that were denominated in dollars wheat
activity that will be no tendency
outdoor deflation and in this country over time or or virtually in attendance
to inflation
absolutely
well the conversation we've had
and never thought that i would sit with you and we'll talk about
a fifty one split
traffic lights blacktop right i mean this had to be a hard when or not i
think i had a lobotomy one night and i don't know why i did
dot
it it is not
is not natural for me but but it
it was needed to facilitate
the small shareholders of bien es up getting the same deal