Buffett's Partner: 'It's Over' for U.S. Economy , page 1

Buffett's Partner: 'It's Over' for U.S. Economy

www.thedailybell.com...

Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s longtime business partner in Berkshire Hathaway, warns in a new column that the U.S. economic empire is crumbling before our eyes, thanks to federal debt and poor planning.

In an article penned for Slate.com, Munger uses the form of a parable to explain how Wall Street’s love affair with gambling has destroyed America’s Main Street.

The article leads with this headline: “Basically, It’s Over.”

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 24-2-2010 by DimensionalDetective]

Awesome!

So basically one of the richest men in america's biz partner is stating that the endlessly greedy extortionist leeches, who are REALLY in control of this country, and their puppet servants in the gov carrying out their dirty work making it happen, are going to FINISH America off entirely financially, by continuing these idiotic scam and debt schemes.

And does anyone still think that this is being done "accidently", or not by design for an end-means?

Funniest part is I STILL see the shills in the corpomedia yapping about the economy 'rebounding'. What a joke.

Sickening.

www.thedailybell.com...
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 24-2-2010 by DimensionalDetective]

reply to post by DimensionalDetective

---

I've never once thought any of this was mere accident, DimensionalDetective.

I predicted this mess prior to Bush leaving office.

Obama is merely the mop up man to insure America never gets off her knees.

Political Collusion of a President and Congress in Collapsing America, The Fall of the New Rome

All the telltale signs are there for collusion within the three branches of Government.

The Creature from Jekyll Island : A Second Look at the Federal Reserve

Either one of those threads will show you a lot more in depth information.

While people like the policy think-tank Project for the New American Century got rich from military spending, Intelligence Agency budget's, and rebuilding Iraq by using 9/11 as a pretext along with alleged W.M.D.'s to go after Saddam Hussein, we as a nation, the citizens are left jobless as society crashes and burns.

Quote from : Wikipedia : Project for the New American Century

The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. that lasted from early 1997 to 2006.

It was co-founded as a non-profit educational organization by neoconservatives William Kristol and Robert Kagan.

The PNAC's stated goal was "to promote American global leadership."

Fundamental to the PNAC were the view that "American leadership is both good for America and good for the world" and support for "a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity."

The PNAC exerted influence on high-level U.S. government officials in the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush and affected the Bush Administration's development of military and foreign policies, especially involving national security and the Iraq War.

Don't you worry one bit as it was all pemeditated and all planned out.

Quote from : Wikipedia : Project for the New American Century : Statement of Principles

PNAC's first public act was releasing a "Statement of Principles" on June 3, 1997, which was signed by both its members and a variety of other notable conservative politicians and journalists (see Signatories to Statement of Principles).

The statement began by framing a series of questions, which the rest of the document proposes to answer:

As the 20th century draws to a close, the United States stands as the world's pre-eminent power.

Having led the West to victory in the Cold War, America faces an opportunity and a challenge:

Does the United States have the vision to build upon the achievements of past decades?

Does the United States have the resolve to shape a new century favorable to American principles and interests?

In response to these questions, the PNAC states its aim to "remind America" of "lessons" learned from American history, drawing the following "four consequences" for America in 1997:

* we need to increase defense spending significantly if we are to carry out our global responsibilities today and modernize our armed forces for the future;

* we need to strengthen our ties to democratic allies and to challenge regimes hostile to our interests and values;

* we need to promote the cause of political and economic freedom abroad;

[and]

* we need to accept responsibility for America's unique role in preserving and extending an international order friendly to our security, our prosperity, and our principles.

While "Such a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity may not be fashionable today," the "Statement of Principles" concludes, "it is necessary if the United States is to build on the successes of this past century and to ensure our security and our greatness in the next."

Reminds me of the thread below, DimensionalDetective, Steve Forbes thinks Truther's nuts should be cut off, yet his hands were in the dirty cookie jar.

Forbes: Cut Truthers Nuts Off

[edit on 24-2-2010 by SpartanKingLeonidas]

reply to post by DimensionalDetective

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Thank you so much for posting this. This is one of those ATS gems. Let me give you my interpretation of this. He is speaking in code to cover for Warren Buffet.

Back in the late 90's or early 2000's Berkshires purchased one or more large insurance companies that held a bunch of derivatives. Warren and Charlie spent millions, if not billions, to rid themselves of these derivatives, because they had the insight to realize they were just a high stakes gamble.

Warren is the good father in the parable. If you do a search you will find old financial articles where he warns in no uncertain terms about the dangers of derivatives way before this mess ever happened.

Also to the guy who said this was planned to destroy the country. It wasn't planned it is just like a gambling addiction. You are about to loose your house so you go out and gamble the house payment thinking you will win the house payment and some food money, but then you come home broke and are now hungry and homeless.

From your article:

Among the suggestions of the Good Father were the following. First, he suggested that Basicland change its laws. It should strongly discourage casino gambling, partly through a complete ban on the trading in financial derivatives, and it should encourage former casino employees—and former casino patrons—to produce and sell items that foreigners were willing to buy. Second, as this change was sure to be painful, he suggested that Basicland's citizens cheerfully embrace their fate. After all, he observed, a man diagnosed with lung cancer is willing to quit smoking and undergo surgery because it is likely to prolong his life.

The views of the Good Father drew some approval, mostly from people who admired the fiscal virtue of the Romans during the Punic Wars. But others, including many of Basicland's prominent economists, had strong objections. These economists had intense faith that any outcome at all in a free market—even wild growth in casino gambling—is constructive. Indeed, these economists were so committed to their basic faith that they looked forward to the day when Basicland would expand real securities trading, as a percentage of securities outstanding, by a factor of 100, so that it could match the speculation level present in the United States just before onslaught of the Great Recession that began in 2008.

The strong faith of these Basicland economists in the beneficence of hypergambling in both securities and financial derivatives stemmed from their utter rejection of the ideas of the great and long-dead economist who had known the most about hyperspeculation, John Maynard Keynes. Keynes had famously said, "When the capital development of a country is the byproduct of the operations of a casino, the job is likely to be ill done." It was easy for these economists to dismiss such a sentence because securities had been so long associated with respectable wealth, and financial derivatives seemed so similar to securities.

Warren Buffett on derivatives 2002.

Warren Buffet on Derivatives
Following are edited excerpts from the Berkshire Hathaway annual report for 2002.
I view derivatives as time bombs, both for the parties that deal in them and the economic system.
Basically these instruments call for money to change hands at some future date, with the amount to be
determined by one or more reference items, such as interest rates, stock prices, or currency values. For
example, if you are either long or short an S&P 500 futures contract, you are a party to a very simple
derivatives transaction, with your gain or loss derived from movements in the index. Derivatives contracts
are of varying duration, running sometimes to 20 or more years, and their value is often tied to several
variables.
Unless derivatives contracts are collateralized or guaranteed, their ultimate value also depends on the
creditworthiness of the counter-parties to them. But before a contract is settled, the counter-parties record
profits and losses – often huge in amount – in their current earnings statements without so much as a
penny changing hands. Reported earnings on derivatives are often wildly overstated. That’s because
today’s earnings are in a significant way based on estimates whose inaccuracy may not be exposed for
many years.

Source

reply to post by Horza

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Heh-Looks like moneynews.com pulled it immediately....A coincidence? Wonder who's pulling their strings or watching "allowable" content?

No matter, found it on another site (with a little different twist overall) and its up on OP links.

reply to post by Subjective Truth

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Oh, please. Here you are again in praise of your almighty military. (That is manned mostly by hicks.) You can't even find (dead) men in caves.


And it's not as if they don't control the military. Besides, those hicks wouldn't know who it is they're looking for.

[edit on 2/24/2010 by eldard]

reply to post by Subjective Truth

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What military?

Do you think the military will be fighting for the people? Definitely not.

They will serve the Elite because that's who's going to give them food and shelter while chaos breaks out in the rest of the world.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective

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I was thinking that too ... mmm ...

But there are a few sources for this ... I think the original is this one:

www.slate.com...

Thanks for posting this ... great read.

reply to post by Emerald The Paradigm

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The military is not a monolith. Fighting men and women have friends and family who are not necessarily in the military. there are more working class people than elites.

If you consider both of the above there is a likelihood of a civil war scenario arising.

I believe that the elite are running very scared as they are not invulnerable just cocooned.

T

reply to post by DimensionalDetective

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No offense to the OP here, but isn't this something we have all known... for a while now?

Everyday there are threads made, many of them, talking about the economy collapsing. Well you don't need to read a thread on ATS, nor a news story online or in the paper to figure it out - just take look around you!

The US economy is crap, has been crap, and is failing harder than ever. Any talk of a rebound is a joke, and should only be taken as one. Obama can talk the talk, but he definitely cannot walk the walk.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective

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You cant ban derivatives instruments, buying futures or taking short position since they essentially make up the basic law of no arbitrage. Without those instruments most trading would come to a halt, currency, commodities, stocks and so on. It's a way to handle risk and do business.

Back in 2008 Mr Buffet himself took a HUGE bet on the USA using derivatives and made a fortune. He/Berkshire is a player himself, using his might and dominance to shift the markets and then profit from the created volatility.

[edit on 24-2-2010 by rhines]

reply to post by highlyoriginal

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Fox news actually had somethin on last night that was basically saying how screwed we all are...
I guess it's official!!

Funny, ain't no one talking about this one though....

gata.org...

We've been heading in this direction for a few decades, but well, it's painfully clear that the bush administration, the fed, the bankers, well, they were looking out for their own interests and who cares about the rest.
I bet when the good ole elections come around again, the republican party finds it's vault overflowing with cash....payback from bailedout banks that were allowed to rip off the american people every which way!!!

If I sell you a car, knowing the brakes are bad on it and then go and buy a life insurance policy on you. when you crash that car, and I go cash in that policy, well, more than likely, I will get a free pass to a jail somewhere for negligent homicide, or worse....I wouldn't get bailed out!!

and that was the what tipped our economy past the point of no return! Heads should be rolling, instead they are getting bigger and bigger bonuses.....and I bet ya ten to one, the people who end up with the cash will be sure to return the favor back to the republican party so we can play the game all over again....
that's if there is another election...

oh, and by the way....
we are so broke as a nation....we are building a new $1 billion dollar embassy in london!!! I see the fact that the feel the need to have a moat as a rather omnimous sign!!

www.timesonline.co.uk...

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