Warren Buffett Claims That Economy is Finally Starting To Improve
Is the US economy finally starting to gain some traction and begin a meaningful expansion after suffering through a two-year recession? Warren Buffett thinks so. According to the Associated Press (link below), Warren Buffett gave an interview to Fox Business Network on Thursday in which he stated that Berkshire Hathaway's roughly 80 subsidiaries had "a big upswing in March."
Warren Buffett is certainly well-placed in terms of noticing upticks in economic activity. Berkshire Hathaway, as mentioned, has about 80 subsidiaries that engage in a wide spectrum of different businesses, from fast food to insurance to furniture to utility businesses. If the economy starts to gain some strength, then Warren Buffett would be one of the very first people to notice it.
An economic recovery for the United States, if it is indeed materializing, will present a number of interesting questions going forward. Will this be a "jobless" recovery, as some people have predicted, or will the national unemployment rate start to trend lower in a meaningful way? (Remember, the CBO doesn't expect the national unemployment rate to fall below 9% until 2012).
Will a meaningful economic recovery allow the federal government to trim back some of their deficit estimates for the next ten years? A trillion or two in reductions would be nice..
Will a meaningful economic recovery act as gasoline on an already scorching equities market? After all, the DJIA is up 3,000 points in the past year - if the dark clouds of economic turmoil continue to dissipate, will the major market indexes continue to trend higher?
Also, might the US real estate market finally start to improve with some economic expansion, as John Paulson predicted last week?
Let's keep our fingers crossed that this country might finally be getting back on its feet..
It will be interesting to hear the comments of Warren Buffett at the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder's meeting this weekend, as he is always very candid and honest..
Source: Associated Press - Buffett: Economy showing signs of big improvement
Filed under: General Knowledge
