Buffett: U.S. debt on its own ‘not a problem’
Billionaire says deficit a lower percent of GDP than after World War II
new
Jan. 20, 2013, 2:54 p.m. EST
By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
Reuters/file 2011
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Billionaire Warren Buffett believes the federal
deficit should be stabilized in relation to U.S. economic growth, but
that the nation’s $16.4 trillion in red ink is not trouble in and of
itself.
“It is not a good thing to have it going up in relation to GDP, that
should be stabilized, but the debt itself is not a problem,” the CEO of
Berkshire Hathaway
BRK.A
+0.01%
said in an interview broadcast Sunday on the CBS “Sunday Morning” news show.
“What is right about America just totally dwarfs what’s wrong with Washington. 535 people are not going to mess up 315 million over time. I know it.”
Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
The nation’s debt is “a lower percent of GDP [gross domestic product]
than it was when we came out of World War II. You’ve got to think about
it in relation to GDP,” added Buffett, a vocal advocate for increased
taxes on the nation’s wealthiest, a stance he alluded to in the
broadcast.
“I would say in a country with $50,000 of GDP per person, that nobody
should be hungry, nobody should lack a good education, nobody should be
worried about medical care, you know, nobody should be worried about
their old age.”
Obama’s second-term agenda
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But the 82-year-old Buffett hastened to add that he wasn't advocating
shared wealth to the point of erasing a motivating force for innovation,
with Buffett saying his stance does not mean “looking for equality
results.”
Listing the co-founders of Apple Inc.
AAPL
-0.53%
, Hewlett-Packard Co.
HPQ
0.00%
and Microsoft Corp.
MSFT
0.00%
, Buffett said, “You want great inequality results; you want the Steve
Jobs to be working in those garages, or the Dave Packards or Bill Gates,
or you name it. But you do not want anybody going to bed hungry or
having medical care denied to them or just the basics of life.”
As for the discouragement Americans might feel in looking at the
political bickering and persistent stalemates on Capitol Hill, Buffett
sounded an optimistic tone, saying “what is right about America just
totally dwarfs what’s wrong with Washington. 535 people are not going to
mess up 315 million over time. I know it.”
Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.
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