Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Buffett Supports Bailout; Says Gov't Will Make Money


In a long interview uninterrupted by commercials on CNBC this morning, Warren Buffett voiced his support for Treasury Secretary Paulson's proposed bailout. He also said the U.S. government will make a very good profit on the deal (15%+ rate of return), if it buys at market prices.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke stupidly suggested yesterday that the government should buy at significantly above market prices. Buffett said that is not a good idea.

Buffett didn't mention this, but I should point out that if the government follows Bernanke's stupid idea and pays above market prices, it would remove less bad debt off of bank balance sheets than if it paid market prices. (The higher the price, the less you can buy.) Bernanke needs a refresher course in microeconomics, since he's suggesting paying more than the equilibrium price.

Buffett also said that President Obama or President McCain should keep Hank Paulson as Treasury Secretary for the first year of their presidency. (I think Obama could probably do quite well with NJ Governor Jon Corzine as Treasury Secretary, if he wanted. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, was Paulson's predecessor as CEO of Goldman Sachs.)

Here is the full interview:
While on the topic of the bailout, let me point out that Carnegie Mellon University economist Allan Meltzer has his own proposal:
if they're going to do something, then what they ought to do is make loans, which the financial institutions have to repay with interest. And if you think — that's an idea which the Chileans have used in a bigger crisis than this for them in 1982, and it worked for them. People paid back the loans. They weren't allowed to pay dividends until they repaid the loans. They weren't allowed to take bonuses until they repaid the loans. I think that's the way — if we're going to do this, then that's the way we should do it.
Somehow, I doubt that if the government follows Meltzer's idea it will earn a 15%+ rate of return. However, I do like the idea of prohibiting dividend payments until the credit crisis has passed.

12 comments:

  1. Wait a second... if there is a "very good profit" to be made, why doesn't Buffet buy it himself (via Berkshire)? He wrote in his annual shareholder letter either this year or last (I think) that he is on the hunt for "elephants." That is, Berkshire Hathaway has so much capital to invest that it needs very large deals in order to maintain growth, and such opportunities are rare. The size of the bailout makes it a good candidate for being an elephant, if it would indeed be so profitable. I don't understand why Buffet would be endorsing socialization rather than jumping on the opportunity himself, if he believes what he is saying.

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  2. WHAT A FREAKIN' CON GAME!!! Buffet is planning to buy into one of the biggest beneficiaries of this bailout! No WONDER he is now suddenly supporting it!

    He is taking a huge gamble that Goldman, already slated to make a ton of money based on BoA's assessments, will make even more!

    Of course he'll back a plan that will make him a ton of money, especially if he's betting on it to happen!!!

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  3. Bostonbubble,

    I believe that Buffet knows that to make money, it will require great amounts of risk (betting the farm) that he is not prepared to do for shareholders. He is a much more conservative investor in general.

    Besides, BH cannot raise $1T+ in cash to buy the crappy stuff that Paulson wants to buy. Buffet might as well buy the US Government or the Federal Reserve Bank.

    And... of course Bernanke wants the USG to overpay for the assets. That way, the reserve bank gets bailed out as well. It's 2 for the price of 1.

    In the end, it's all scaremongering. This problem will resolve itself with or without a bailout, and we'll be a lot poorer with any kind of intervention. Better to let the economy crash than perpetuate the Bernanke put.

    Chuck

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  4. "James said...
    Buffett didn't mention this, but I should point out that if the government follows Bernanke's stupid idea and pays above market prices, it would remove less bad debt off of bank balance sheets than if it paid market prices. (The higher the price, the less you can buy.)"

    James you forgot the other possibility, the one I fear most, the pool of purchase funds just grows by that much more. I.e. 1 trillion vs 700 Billion.

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  5. anonymous said...
    "James you forgot the other possibility, the one I fear most, the pool of purchase funds just grows by that much more. I.e. 1 trillion vs 700 Billion."

    It doesn't matter. No matter how much you spend, the higher the price, the less you can buy.

    bostonbubble said...
    "Wait a second... if there is a "very good profit" to be made, why doesn't Buffet buy it himself (via Berkshire)?"

    If you watch the videos, you'll see that Buffett answers that very question. I don't remember his exact answer, and I don't have time right now to go through and watch the videos.

    infinity8ball said...
    "WHAT A FREAKIN' CON GAME!!! Buffet is planning to buy into one of the biggest beneficiaries of this bailout! No WONDER he is now suddenly supporting it!"

    Buffett publicly supported the Paulson bailout proposal last week, too. I didn't post it to the blog then, because there was so much other news happening that I had to make editorial decisions about what to post and what not to.

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  6. James you missed my point. If all the original money is used up to buy 80% of the junk loan universe, Bernanke & Paulson will just go back to congress to get more money to buy rhe remaining 20%...

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  7. If you watch the videos, you'll see that Buffett answers that very question. I don't remember his exact answer, and I don't have time right now to go through and watch the videos.

    I went and watched the Buffet interview (not sure if it was the same as the one above, but I'm guessing it was) and he said he would do the deal if he could borrow with the same terms as the US government.

    I also noticed that he said he wouldn't have bought Goldman Sachs had he not been expecting a bailout to pass.

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  8. > 15%+ rate of return ... at
    > market prices.

    Compared to how much at original prices? Big loss? Say -30%?

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  9. Hi,
    good morning everybody..I am rosy am new to this blog..am happy to be here and participate in the conversation going here...The higher the price, the less you can buy.so the prices should not be increased..due to the money inflammation....
    ____________________
    rosy
    Multi List Service

    ReplyDelete
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    lauran
    Sale By Owner

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  11. This is a very nice and interesting post which convey lot of useful information.
    -------------------
    lauran
    Sale By Owner

    ReplyDelete
  12. Mr. Buffet is a great Financial mind of our times but on this one his holdings stand to gain some of the biggest benefits from the “Bailout”. Isn’t this just a bandaid for a bigger problem that’s not being addressed. Let the market fail and level out as it should.
    ------------------
    Misbah

    Business Sales

    ReplyDelete