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I don't think he's rejecting anything, just making a general point about investing in something with cashflow (a business, farmland) vs speculating in something

I don't think he's rejecting anything, just making a general point about investing in something with cashflow (a business, farmland) vs speculating in something that is only worth what others will pay for it (gold, commodities)

spenrose 15y ago
Did you follow the link? Buffet's recommendation comes with a long time horizon, and the asserion that he can predict stability: "Whether the currency a century from now is based on gold, seashells, shark teeth, or a piece of paper (as today), people will be willing to exchange a couple of minutes of their daily labor for a Coca-Cola or some See's peanut brittle." I think he's right about people, but in the statement he is also implicitly asserting that peanuts will be a cheap commodity in 100 years. That rejects our best projections regarding climate change. The much more important implicit assertion I quoted in the downvoted post (thanks guys) is that you can buy productive farmland now that will be productive in a century. That will only be generally true if climate change does not happen.
- Czarnian 15y ago
  I'd be willing to bet that when he wrote that sentence, global warming was one of the furthest things from his mind. Even so, I'm pretty sure Warren Buffett is a businessman, not a climate scientist. It's called the Appeal to False Authority, look it up.
- MikeCapone 15y ago
  I've been following Buffett for a long time. I've read all of the BErkshire letters and most of the partnership letters. I've read 2 biographies of him and watched and read dozens of interviews. He was making a general abstract point, not a specific prediction. That's just the way he talks, and maybe it could be confusing if you are not used to it, but that still what it is. And btw, MidAmerican Energy, a Berkshire owned utility, is the biggest investor in wind power in the US and just bought huge solar power projects.

spenrose 15y ago

Did you follow the link? Buffet's recommendation comes with a long time horizon, and the asserion that he can predict stability: "Whether the currency a century from now is based on gold, seashells, shark teeth, or a piece of paper (as today), people will be willing to exchange a couple of minutes of their daily labor for a Coca-Cola or some See's peanut brittle." I think he's right about people, but in the statement he is also implicitly asserting that peanuts will be a cheap commodity in 100 years. That rejects our best projections regarding climate change. The much more important implicit assertion I quoted in the downvoted post (thanks guys) is that you can buy productive farmland now that will be productive in a century. That will only be generally true if climate change does not happen.

Czarnian 15y ago
I'd be willing to bet that when he wrote that sentence, global warming was one of the furthest things from his mind. Even so, I'm pretty sure Warren Buffett is a businessman, not a climate scientist. It's called the Appeal to False Authority, look it up.
MikeCapone 15y ago
I've been following Buffett for a long time. I've read all of the BErkshire letters and most of the partnership letters. I've read 2 biographies of him and watched and read dozens of interviews. He was making a general abstract point, not a specific prediction. That's just the way he talks, and maybe it could be confusing if you are not used to it, but that still what it is. And btw, MidAmerican Energy, a Berkshire owned utility, is the biggest investor in wind power in the US and just bought huge solar power projects.