Buffet, Berkshire Hathaway and Gold
For some reason, Warren Buffet, head of of Berkshire Hathaway, finds it necessary to continually take pot shots at gold. He's done this at various times, and used various iterations of the same theme: Gold doesn't "do" anything - or something akin to that.
The first oddity one notices about this seeming obsession: Buffet's father, Howard, a U.S. congressman from Nebraska, was a huge proponent of returning the US dollar to being backed by gold. Here's a sample of his views, a quote from a speech he made in 1948, shortly after the end of World War II:
Is there a connection between Human Freedom and a Gold Redeemable Money? At first glance it would seem that money belongs to the world of economics and human freedom to the political sphere.
But when you recall that one of the first moves by Lenin, Mussolini and Hitler was to outlaw individual ownership of gold, you begin to sense that there may be some connection between money, redeemable in gold, and the rare prize known as human liberty.
This wasn't some random thought. You can find a lot from Howard Buffet on the subject of gold's relationship to liberty. He was, in fact, a life-long a life-long proponent, you might even say a crusader for restoring the backing of the U.S dollar by gold - something that ended in 1933.
Given his strong views, it has always struck me as curious that his son Warren takes such an opposite stand. And he doesn't simply disagree with his Dad, he constantly drives home his point that gold is essentially useless.
I've never seen any analysis or commentary about this odd set of circumstances. Is Warren's strong view the result of some disagreement with or resentment of his father? I'm not a psychologist, but you do have to wonder why the vociferousness of the disagreement, especially in light of something I just learned: Gold has outperformed Berkshire Hathaway since 2000. That's 19 years.
This chart compares Gold to BRK/A, Berkshire Hathaway's A shares. You see gold rising vs. BRK until 2011, when gold began the correction within its current bull market. This year, gold has resumed its ascendancy vs. BRK. From the looks of the chart, that ascendancy is in its early stages and will continue for some years.
Just found it interesting, so passing it on...
For some reason, Warren Buffet, head of of Berkshire Hathaway, finds it necessary to continually take pot shots at gold. He's done this at various times, and used various iterations of the same theme: Gold doesn't "do" anything - or something akin to that.
The first oddity one notices about this seeming obsession: Buffet's father, Howard, a U.S. congressman from Nebraska, was a huge proponent of returning the US dollar to being backed by gold. Here's a sample of his views, a quote from a speech he made in 1948, shortly after the end of World War II:
Is there a connection between Human Freedom and a Gold Redeemable Money? At first glance it would seem that money belongs to the world of economics and human freedom to the political sphere.
But when you recall that one of the first moves by Lenin, Mussolini and Hitler was to outlaw individual ownership of gold, you begin to sense that there may be some connection between money, redeemable in gold, and the rare prize known as human liberty.
This wasn't some random thought. You can find a lot from Howard Buffet on the subject of gold's relationship to liberty. He was, in fact, a life-long a life-long proponent, you might even say a crusader for restoring the backing of the U.S dollar by gold - something that ended in 1933.
Given his strong views, it has always struck me as curious that his son Warren takes such an opposite stand. And he doesn't simply disagree with his Dad, he constantly drives home his point that gold is essentially useless.
I've never seen any analysis or commentary about this odd set of circumstances. Is Warren's strong view the result of some disagreement with or resentment of his father? I'm not a psychologist, but you do have to wonder why the vociferousness of the disagreement, especially in light of something I just learned: Gold has outperformed Berkshire Hathaway since 2000. That's 19 years.
This chart compares Gold to BRK/A, Berkshire Hathaway's A shares. You see gold rising vs. BRK until 2011, when gold began the correction within its current bull market. This year, gold has resumed its ascendancy vs. BRK. From the looks of the chart, that ascendancy is in its early stages and will continue for some years.
Just found it interesting, so passing it on...
The first oddity one notices about this seeming obsession: Buffet's father, Howard, a U.S. congressman from Nebraska, was a huge proponent of returning the US dollar to being backed by gold. Here's a sample of his views, a quote from a speech he made in 1948, shortly after the end of World War II:
Is there a connection between Human Freedom and a Gold Redeemable Money? At first glance it would seem that money belongs to the world of economics and human freedom to the political sphere.
But when you recall that one of the first moves by Lenin, Mussolini and Hitler was to outlaw individual ownership of gold, you begin to sense that there may be some connection between money, redeemable in gold, and the rare prize known as human liberty.
This wasn't some random thought. You can find a lot from Howard Buffet on the subject of gold's relationship to liberty. He was, in fact, a life-long a life-long proponent, you might even say a crusader for restoring the backing of the U.S dollar by gold - something that ended in 1933.
Given his strong views, it has always struck me as curious that his son Warren takes such an opposite stand. And he doesn't simply disagree with his Dad, he constantly drives home his point that gold is essentially useless.
I've never seen any analysis or commentary about this odd set of circumstances. Is Warren's strong view the result of some disagreement with or resentment of his father? I'm not a psychologist, but you do have to wonder why the vociferousness of the disagreement, especially in light of something I just learned: Gold has outperformed Berkshire Hathaway since 2000. That's 19 years.
This chart compares Gold to BRK/A, Berkshire Hathaway's A shares. You see gold rising vs. BRK until 2011, when gold began the correction within its current bull market. This year, gold has resumed its ascendancy vs. BRK. From the looks of the chart, that ascendancy is in its early stages and will continue for some years.
Just found it interesting, so passing it on...
For some reason, Warren Buffet, head of of Berkshire Hathaway, finds it necessary to continually take pot shots at gold. He's done this at various times, and used various iterations of the same theme: Gold doesn't "do" anything - or something akin to that.
The first oddity one notices about this seeming obsession: Buffet's father, Howard, a U.S. congressman from Nebraska, was a huge proponent of returning the US dollar to being backed by gold. Here's a sample of his views, a quote from a speech he made in 1948, shortly after the end of World War II:
Is there a connection between Human Freedom and a Gold Redeemable Money? At first glance it would seem that money belongs to the world of economics and human freedom to the political sphere.
But when you recall that one of the first moves by Lenin, Mussolini and Hitler was to outlaw individual ownership of gold, you begin to sense that there may be some connection between money, redeemable in gold, and the rare prize known as human liberty.
This wasn't some random thought. You can find a lot from Howard Buffet on the subject of gold's relationship to liberty. He was, in fact, a life-long a life-long proponent, you might even say a crusader for restoring the backing of the U.S dollar by gold - something that ended in 1933.
Given his strong views, it has always struck me as curious that his son Warren takes such an opposite stand. And he doesn't simply disagree with his Dad, he constantly drives home his point that gold is essentially useless.
I've never seen any analysis or commentary about this odd set of circumstances. Is Warren's strong view the result of some disagreement with or resentment of his father? I'm not a psychologist, but you do have to wonder why the vociferousness of the disagreement, especially in light of something I just learned: Gold has outperformed Berkshire Hathaway since 2000. That's 19 years.
This chart compares Gold to BRK/A, Berkshire Hathaway's A shares. You see gold rising vs. BRK until 2011, when gold began the correction within its current bull market. This year, gold has resumed its ascendancy vs. BRK. From the looks of the chart, that ascendancy is in its early stages and will continue for some years.
Just found it interesting, so passing it on...
Comments