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Buffett deserves a lot of admiration, he certainly built his early cash hoard with hard work and grit. However, he was born on an upward slope fed by historica

Buffett deserves a lot of admiration, he certainly built his early cash hoard with hard work and grit. However, he was born on an upward slope fed by historical circumstances such as the destruction of the industrial base in many countries as a result of WWII while America was mostly untouched; by the growth of fiat currency unencumbered by being tied to gold or silver; by the increase in the value of human labor due to (again) WWII and productivity increases of automation. Now that many of those growth curves have flattened out, I am wary of following WB too closely - I worry that the lessons of the old economy will not work in the new, diminished age that is upon us.

sqs 18y ago
He's been investing since the 50s. How many times in his long career could someone have told him "the world is fundamentally different now, and your old strategies won't work"? Many times. The fundamental business of Berkshire Hathaway is this: get cheap cash (float) from the insurance business and use it to buy high-quality companies. Berkshire's inflow of cheap cash is unrivaled, and it has an extremely good reputation as an acquirer. In the "new, diminished age," I think those factors are even more important.