investor is also chairman and c_e_o_ berkshire hathaway

he's been on this program many times i last spoke with him over a year ago at

the peak of the worst economic crisis system great depression at that time he

said that america been struck by the economic pearl harbor but much has

changed since then he's here to tell us how you use a global an american economy

recovery his own company reflects a progress made in recent months last week

berkshire hathaway struck eight twenty six two billion dollar deal to buy all

of burlington northern santa fe

railroad the largest acquisition company history

he called the deal at all in wager on the american economy

he's in new york return all of that could help with bill dated from

university yesterday

iteration agreed to stay over in new york annette tonight and i am pleased to

have a good friend of this program of the friend of mine back at this table

welcome

thank you charlie completed here a_t_c_

it has been

certainly from the middle of two thousand eight to the middle of two

thousand nine one incredible year monogram away so why do a lot of

chocolate

can be answered

tell me about for you

well at it was that we did was an extraordinary times this country we came

closer to a financial meltdown than than uh...

certainly anytime i've ever seen and probably in certain respects even

it was even more panic in the the great depression because it came out so fast

and so on expected and and uh...

the whole country one of the the leverage of corporations individuals and

unfortunately we have a government that responded and that was

inclusive when we talked last that that

it was will question and uh... of whether congress would wish mom like

they should they did

defiantly finding there that i i i i

without there with me and i mean in in the end the come together for

things of this vital to the country but

but we have the right people and and and washington at least if we had a group of

the the behave like a near the headlights uh...

uh... there we got run over so paulson and burning kian geiger

were the right people at the right time

and you don't know what might have happened if others have been in those

positions of power out there that

i can think of other tomato may provide the government work toward the ending

one of the would have been with us in the abyss revenue just tearing down and

do it

uh... you made some investors during that period right

general electric

goldman sachs atop

but you just pulled out the big elephant gun

meat contaminated water mark roberts yourself and i think he said it sticks

to the last nickel for this workshop

why did you do

well i i i felt was an opportunity to my a

the business that

those is going to be around for a hundred two hundred years that's that's

that's been a roll when with the american economy in a way that that the

american economy prospers leave the business will prosper so that that

that is the most efficient way of moving uh...

goods in the country it's the most uh...

environmentally friendly way of moving goods and both will send him a very

important but the biggest thing as united states is going to be going to do

well in india

we campbell guerrero dirt rider and do you have to accept it

so uh... it

so like the river that's sort of a new york we have to make it here we've got

to get anywhere i have not heard and send them

elliott but it does move

four hundred ns

stand all the time of of good four hundred and seventy miles on one gallon

of diesel that replaces adult rain replaces two hundred eighty trucks on

the road and that

it omits for us into the atmosphere that's damaging than uh... than trucking

spend animals forty brown one of them up already removed forty percent of the

goods pleasanton yet new port of entry is like houston and bring a lot of

europe

through the panama canal and we're going to more people this country and around

the using more goods over top of that

and sure there's a bad year from time to time in the next hundred years probably

fifteen bad years but but and i don't know what order of the whole peer

but i also deliver a little bit of sexual the country you know when you

call troy monitor them think about this did did he say

right on warren or do you say about this somewhat and it's bitterly chores around

came up we thought it i don't care about likely have our white combined

financially jellyfish alligator travel all level of almost nothing

and at that and if that is a really portion of the jury so but i mean he

also pointed out it is said that

you know there was

this was a regulated industries juror this was an industry that was

capital-intensive a recap of this was an industry uh...

now if you do spend money unionized do you know how you spend money in this

business

regularly every day you spent a lot of money repair tracker window at rolling

stock whatever may be so its capital intensive

and and uh...

tentative spenders regulated and it will continue the regular and continue the

cap on times and i think

that what the service provided by railroads is so important

captain in many ways are made at at at at that

it's the right way to movements around the country to the terms that you're

going to work that can do it

farm

far more attractive in terms of uh...

global warming and and and and then uh... using trucks for example so

it will be here and

if we get made

the reasonable return on the added capital investment a little break out of

capital investment

uh... will do okay admissible returns going up

reason which is good enough for the tremendous

fifty years ours looking for spectacular returns but i think i can i can find i

think that's going on in the area that we have a bit

eight or ten billion dollars to invest every year and

when you totally business and it's the same thing there i mean when we build a

bridge on a rationing or something of the short

we shouldn't expect a spectacular returns were building things at ur a

sexual society and

people-meter services that we don't have any choice in the in the case of the

electric utilities for example and sometimes in case of rail in

we should get a decent return on that and advanced enough to encourage us to

keep putting money into the business but we're not entitled a spectacular

pictures god

u_k_ recall

well it's a bit that's a big win in terms of timing john bread and if the

fact we'd

wean ourselves off cole

is that a big problem well we will win ourselves off ko overtime but with

we can't change

forty percent of electric generation the ghost of comfortable we can change that

next week or next month or next year but we will reduce over time and we should

be to join you can do the things that are any changes will be other world

there'll be more grain to move and i'll be moral all that chemicals or whatever

it may be uh... that

there will be more things moving around this country ten or twenty or thirty

years

knowing your idea about mostar

it is it a pleasing idea that no one is likely to get into the railroad business

promote if they want to come on to reproduce uh... the burlington northern

santa fe are you know it might take a hundred billion dollars are solid

billion years

they are they got their roles for me also modernize today are they not only

one or more sleep than normal for the uh... the

the railroad line

et cetera like the events as they are they're moving

far more time

uh... some miles uh... a product

uh...

uh... will with less

awesome the way of

people uh...

less in the way if you all

rental income for more efficient over the years

there were a million and a half people employed the rail industry after world

war two

now there are some mob

less than two hundred thousand united states and they're moving far more good

so it's really become a video you watch those hundred and thirty in the trains

double stacked

you have all the railroad companies in your portfolio

you're selling them i've already told them they are not that i i i don't know

i just official take the transaction i think that the government investments

but i uh...

i would've held on this if this had happened

uh... when you look at the future

there's also the argument made combat

that this is something that goes with your philosophy today get out of cash

and get into assets

as we don't know what's gonna happen to the top

cash is always a bad investment

abuses so it will be able to cash is king a year ago i mean

that's crazy coming cash wasn't producing anything and it was surely a

noun value over time

i know you always want to sure have enough time to have her back because i

think my god you are you sure to rally to get out at which they don't have you

don't have access to the maserati and cash

we will always have enough cash around what anytime we have surplus cash around

i'm unhappy i mean i would much rather have a good businesses in cash and and

uh...

we found a chance in the last year thereabouts to deploy weekly came and

with something over forty billion a camera and we've got about twenty

billion dollar and we've had some earning so we would put a lot of cash

for work

and i like that no i'd much rather out of the business

uh... that cash

hot and it is a hedge against the dollar

begins at all assets are edgy and set up a dollar on and that

all of you know is that the dollar is going to be worthless

ten twenty

thirty years from now ice a worth what's not working chellam notes left

but i think it will be a factor or special almost every person that i go

back over

the question is how much depreciate in value but cash

cash is not a place that uh... that-and why is it

well there's always gonna be worthless because will will be mo

put more of a man relation to the amount of goods and are moving there

and all of it

week if we drop

we dropped a billion dollars of cash and every household united states today

everybody feel very good

except the people invest in things that were denominated in dollars wheat

activity that will be no tendency

outdoor deflation and in this country over time or or virtually in attendance

to inflation

absolutely

well the conversation we've had

and never thought that i would sit with you and we'll talk about

a fifty one split

traffic lights blacktop right i mean this had to be a hard when or not i

think i had a lobotomy one night and i don't know why i did

dot

it it is not

is not natural for me but but it

it was needed to facilitate

the small shareholders of bien es up getting the same deal