Warren Buffet asked about the future for this country

[Airelon]

I was recently reading and interview. This is the part that really caught my attention.

Q: Sense for the future of our country, Warren?

A: In the 20th century, real standard of living increased seven-fold. That was unprecedented, and included the Great Depression and other scares. The American system has unleashed the greatest potential of its citizens. Back in 1790, China had 290 million people, and America had 4 million. But today look where we are at. We will be better off in the future, the real question is how it will be shared.

To my mind, that last statement is extremely profound. "How it will be shared"

That's what attracted me to FIO to begin with as a stock forum. Education. I see the obligation of the wealthy to educate those without wealth, to accumulate it, while balancing growth and consumption. It is not in our best interests to keep that wealth to ourselves. It is only another red check mark against us, when considering our debt situation. While socialistic and communistic ideals are insane, and lead to ruin, it'd be nuts to not realize you can only keep wealth to yourself for so long - before it leads to class clashes. The smart road, and to my mind - what we need to focus in on, more than anything else, is that last statement. We have to learn how to educate others in the U.S. - so that they can partake in wealth as well. People will accept a disparity between classes only so long as they do believe it's possible for 'the little guy' to make it. When they feel that the little guy has absolutely no hope, then in the end, the wealthy will end up footing the bill.

Balanced education on accumulating wealth is difficult to find, but I see it as oohhh so necessary to continued prosperity in the United States.

[Stocktrading101]

I couldn't agree more, especially as it is that my generation is basically screwed financially. I am 21 and there is no way we are going to have social security to bank on. Financial education is going to be more important moving forward in the next 20 years than it ever has been I think.

[llamagatekeeper]

I couldn't agree more with you Blaine. I recently attended a speech given by Larry Fish who is the CEO of Citizens Financial Group and he talked specifically about social security and what needs to be done in the future. He also touched on topics such as medicare and retirement for our generation and current baby boomers(Our being anyone who isn't a baby boomer)...But, what I am returning to the forums for is my current state of dispair for our future. During my first semester in college, in my intro to accounting class my professor asked the class how many people balance their checkbooks each month. And balancing checkbooks doesn't just mean checks it means all your finances including savings and checking accounts since my generation likes our plastic cards. I was one of two people who raised their hands out of 60+ college students in the class. But, the other girl didn't even do her own. She had her mom do everything for her and even sent home reciepts to her mommy...

I guess my main point is that we as a country have a bleak outlook ahead for us.

[White Omega]

Same here in the Philippines llamagatekeeper. Speaking of being financially screwed, most of the people here are struggling financially because of ill education. I'm sure you guys know our history (being invaded by Spain for 330 years, anyway that's where I blame the mentality for). Let me tell you my insight about our country's situation. Here's the usual story first:

John finishes college. Finds a job. Marries Linda who also finished college. Both gets a job (probably underpaid or on another field of work). Gives birth to kids. Additional expenses. As the kid grows up, additional expenses rise (not to mention the fast rate of inflation combined with the slow rate of salary increases). Will probably conceive another child. With the continuous inflation, first kid soon realizes he has to work to fund himself through school (which by the way, teaches very very outdated methods and gives out information that students later on realize are no longer applicable in the real world, what a waste). So, first kid graduates and family makes "utang" (means borrowing money from friends) to celebrate his graduation (a common Filipino practice, negative in nature). First kid (let's name him Jim), finds himself implicitly already in debt even before getting a job (by the way, education in out country is very cheap because of public colleges, but not worth it). Now Jim, being the first born also is in another kind of debt that we commonly call "utang na loob" from his parents (it's a feeling of indebtedness) for being raised. Now here comes the rat race: All the debt that the family incurred while raising Jim now has to be paid primarily by Jim because of that "utang na loob", if not community would see Jim as ungrateful to his parents (which is another negative trait of the Filipinos). Not to mention, since Jim is the eldest and by this time John and Linda probably are old enough to carry on with their jobs, Jim now has to finance his little brother/sister's education, leaving Jim nothing for himself in the end. Sad, I know.

You know what, after typing this short usual Filipino story, I realized that it's probably not the education that keeps us "financially screwed" that is, here, it's the behavior. The attitude, the ultimate root.

Wow, feels good to finally share it out. Hey, hope to here something from you guys about it. Thanks for being there. =)

[Stocktrading101]

Your story sounds exactly like what happens here in the US.

You know what, after typing this short usual Filipino story, I realized that it's probably not the education that keeps us "financially screwed" that is, here, it's the behavior. The attitude, the ultimate root.

Attitude is an interesting attribute because it inna sense is the same as drive. I think a LOT of people have this attitude that the government will take care of you and such, which is false. I still think it goes back to education personally as the core. Lack of financial education growing up just fuels dumb decisions.

Solid post btw White.

[MDZ]

I think a LOT of people have this attitude that the government will take care of you and such, which is false.

Right on, and it is not the governments job to do so. Independence, whether is is emotional, physical, or financial, brings on self-confidence and motivation to exel in other areas of life. We have all heard it, Attitude is Everything.

[akshaytalwar]

Warren Buffett appeared at a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in San Francisco Tuesday. Here are excerpts of personal notes from Nick Nejad:

Q: Your views on the US Dollar?

A: The most important question to ask in economics is "X happens, and then what?". We are living prosperously, but every day we are sending 2 Billion dollars overseas because we consume more than we purchase. It is similar to if we owned, say, a large farm in Texas. We are extremely wealthy, but every year we mortgage a little bit of that farm in order to enjoy more of the present. And it is gradual, but then at some point you have to spend an hour or maybe two hours a week of your work to go towards servicing this debt. The problem is at some point either foreign investors will stop financing our consumption, or our future generations will be burdened with debt and have to work some X hours towards servicing the debt of the earlier generation. But the present over-consumption is unsustainable.

Q: Your views on new products such as derivatives, SIVs, etc. ?

A: There's utility in securitizations. But the problem is these have become complex and the originators and investors have been stretched so far in part in the whole process.

"If you can't make money off the things you do understand, how do you expect to make money off the things you don't?"

Q: On Taxes.

A: In the U.S., 2 Trillion out of 2.5 Trillion in taxes come from income and payroll taxes. Of those, 60% is income taxes, and 40% is payroll taxes. I [Buffett] did a survey at Berkshire HQ and the average worker paid 33.2%. I paid 17.7%.

The worth of the Forbes 400 was 220 Billion in 1987, and for 2007 it is 1.5 trillion. A seven-fold increase. During the same period, wages went up only 80%.

[stockmarketreviews]

hmm noone know exactly what will happen but i think major problem in financial market is oil prices because we r using agricultural product for food .. so it may create bigger problem . best is use alternative energy sources like wind and hydro to run the world . if we have energy free of cost we will be able to cope food prices