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How in Cthulhu's name does this not mention that Warren Buffett's father was a Congressman, Howard Buffett of Nebraska (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Buff
by apsec112 17y ago
How in Cthulhu's name does this not mention that Warren Buffett's father was a Congressman, Howard Buffett of Nebraska (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Buffett http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Buffett)? Probably, I think, because it would sound bad. It sounds modest to say "I didn't get here entirely by my own efforts; I was lucky to have been born in the US, instead of Bangladesh." It doesn't sound modest to say "I didn't get here entirely by my own efforts; my father was a Congressman who had a strong personal friendship with Murray Rothbard, one of the most famous economists in history."
- byrneseyeview 17y agoBuffett didn't get any benefit from knowing Rothbard. But yes, his family's influence probably helped him out, as he has repeatedly acknowledged.
- apsec112 17y agoHe didn't? I'm highly skeptical of that. Buffett's business strategy and general beliefs are largely based on Austrian economics.
- byrneseyeview 17y agoHe owns lots of maturity-mismatched assets. He hasn't done much with gold. He's bought into lots of highly regulated companies. And he advocates punitively high income taxes on some activities, and high income taxes on most other activities. So no, I don't think Buffett is a Rothbardian. He's similar only in the sense that he understands economics very well.
- decode 17y ago"How in Cthulhu's name does this not mention that Warren Buffett's father was a Congressman, Howard Buffett of Nebraska" Because he's trying to make a general statement about estate tax in the United States, so talks about the general condition of being born in the US. If he talked about his specific childhood, it wouldn't have the same generality. I doubt it has to do with modesty.