Learn from Warren Buffett

Just before President Barack Obama’s inauguration, Buffet strengthened that Obama is the right commander in chief not only for the military, but also for the economy in an interview with Warren Buffett by Tom Brokaw. The full script is in Buffett watch.

Buffet even compared Obama with Lincoln and Roosevelt, he thought Obama will lead America get through and win this war.

“You know, whether it was Lincoln, Roosevelt. And– and I would say Obama– you– you couldn’t have– anybody better in charge.”

“Right now fear is [winning],” Buffett said. “It really is an economic Pearl Harbor. … The country is facing something it hasn’t faced since World War II. And [people] are fearful about it. And they don’t know quite what to do about it. And … temporarily it looks like we’re losing. … Interestingly enough, we were losing for a while after Pearl Harbor. But the American people never doubted that we’d win. I mean, we had that attitude then. I think, right now, that they’re sort of paralyzed.”

“Now,” Buffett says, “we have to get mobilized — to win the war, which we will.”

Buffett further complemented Obama before president’s inauguration.

“And– and he’s– he’s smart enough to know it’s the truth, and he– and he’s the kind of person who’s going to tell you the truth. So– I think he’s the ideal president for it. But that’s not because I think he can wave a magic wand.

It’s because I think he can, in a sense, figure, once again, how to get these basic strengths of the American economy in gear again. I mean, we– we have a wonderful economy that’s gummed up at present. And it’s gotten gummed in the past many times.

And it is important who’s president. It’s important that the American people believe in him. It’s important that we take the right policy actions. But there are no miracles in a month or two months or three months. And he’s going to tell the American people that.”

other interesting things I learned from Buffet’s interview:
1. High executive compensation won’t completly go away. There will be a lot of curbing of that. But don’t underestimate the desire of people who get paid more than they’re worth. And particularly at the top.

2. Current tax is not fair, the wealth paid too little. Buffett says “we are raising more and more of that from the people that– that are– you know– are– are the– are the working people in the world, (LAUGHTER) and less– less from people like me”.

3. About wealth and happiness. Buffett says “Somebody said, one time, that success is getting what you want, and happiness is wanting what you get”.

4. Greed is good because it motivates people? Buffett distinguishes greed and ambition. Buffet also says “people are gonna be greedy. You better– you– you– you shouldn’t design a system that essentially counts on people not being greedy. It’s gonna– it’s gonna exist, but you– you need to temper it in various ways.”

5. China has to invest here. Buffett says “in the end I don’t tell the Chinese what to do, (LAUGHTER) and I don’t expect them to tell us what–”.

In the end, Buffett’s main point seems to be that Obama is a fact teller and will be a great leader for America. Well, it is not bad to review this interview in inauguration day.