Op-Ed Contributor
Pretty Good for Government Work
By WARREN E. BUFFETT
Published: November 16, 2010
Omaha
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Times Topic: Warren E. Buffett
DEAR Uncle Sam,
My mother told me to send thank-you notes promptly. I’ve been remiss.
Let me remind you why I’m writing. Just over two years ago, in September 2008, our country faced an economic meltdown. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the pillars that supported our mortgage system, had been forced into conservatorship. Several of our largest commercial banks were teetering. One of Wall Street’s giant investment banks had gone bankrupt, and the remaining three were poised to follow. A.I.G., the world’s most famous insurer, was at death’s door.
Many of our largest industrial companies, dependent on commercial paper financing that had disappeared, were weeks away from exhausting their cash resources. Indeed, all of corporate America’s dominoes were lined up, ready to topple at lightning speed. My own company, Berkshire Hathaway, might have been the last to fall, but that distinction provided little solace.
Nor was it just business that was in peril: 300 million Americans were in the domino line as well. Just days before, the jobs, income, 401(k)’s and money-market funds of these citizens had seemed secure. Then, virtually overnight, everything began to turn into pumpkins and mice. There was no hiding place. A destructive economic force unlike any seen for generations had been unleashed.
Only one counterforce was available, and that was you, Uncle Sam. Yes, you are often clumsy, even inept. But when businesses and people worldwide race to get liquid, you are the only party with the resources to take the other side of the transaction. And when our citizens are losing trust by the hour in institutions they once revered, only you can restore calm.
When the crisis struck, I felt you would understand the role you had to play. But you’ve never been known for speed, and in a meltdown minutes matter. I worried whether the barrage of shattering surprises would disorient you. You would have to improvise solutions on the run, stretch legal boundaries and avoid slowdowns, like Congressional hearings and studies. You would also need to get turf-conscious departments to work together in mounting your counterattack. The challenge was huge, and many people thought you were not up to it.
Well, Uncle Sam, you delivered. People will second-guess your specific decisions; you can always count on that. But just as there is a fog of war, there is a fog of panic — and, overall, your actions were remarkably effective.
I don’t know precisely how you orchestrated these. But I did have a pretty good seat as events unfolded, and I would like to commend a few of your troops. In the darkest of days, Ben Bernanke, Hank Paulson, Tim Geithner and Sheila Bair grasped the gravity of the situation and acted with courage and dispatch. And though I never voted for George W. Bush, I give him great credit for leading, even as Congress postured and squabbled.
You have been criticized, Uncle Sam, for some of the earlier decisions that got us in this mess — most prominently, for not battling the rot building up in the housing market. But then few of your critics saw matters clearly either. In truth, almost all of the country became possessed by the idea that home prices could never fall significantly.
That was a mass delusion, reinforced by rapidly rising prices that discredited the few skeptics who warned of trouble. Delusions, whether about tulips or Internet stocks, produce bubbles. And when bubbles pop, they can generate waves of trouble that hit shores far from their origin. This bubble was a doozy and its pop was felt around the world.
So, again, Uncle Sam, thanks to you and your aides. Often you are wasteful, and sometimes you are bullying. On occasion, you are downright maddening. But in this extraordinary emergency, you came through — and the world would look far different now if you had not.
Your grateful nephew,
Warren
Warren E. Buffett is the chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, a diversified holding company.
A version of this op-ed appeared in print on November 17, 2010, on page A33 of the New York edition.
【人物】股神巴菲特“感谢山姆大叔”惹争议
股神巴菲特感谢信原文
亲爱的山姆大叔：
妈妈让我尽快寄封感谢信给你，我一直都疏忽了。
让我来告诉你写这封信的原因。就在两年前，2008年9月，我们的国家面临着经济崩溃。支撑抵押贷款体系的栋梁——房利美与房地美被迫接受托管。我们最大的几家商业银行也摇摇欲坠。华尔街一家庞大的投资银行已经倒闭，剩余的三家也准备跟随世界最著名保险公司AIG的步伐，在鬼门关前游荡。
那时，我们许多依赖商业票据融资的最大企业距离用尽它们的现金资源只有几周时间。事实上，所有美国公司的多米诺骨牌都已排列成行，准备以闪电般的速度倒下。我自己的公司伯克希尔哈撒韦(Berkshire Hathaway)可能会是最后一个倒下的，但先后顺序的不同提供不了丝毫慰藉。
处于险境的不只是企业，3亿美国人民也处在骨牌队列之中。危机初期，民众的就业、收入、401(k)计划和货币市场基金看起来都是稳固的。但是，几乎是一夜之间，所有东西都变得面目全非，没有哪里可以藏身。一股几代人未曾见到、具有巨大破坏性的经济力量已被释放出来。
在那种情况下，只存在一种反向的力量，那就是你，山姆大叔。没错，你经常动作迟缓，甚至笨拙。但当企业和全世界的民众都冲向流动性时，只有你有能力充当交易的另一方。当我们的民众对他们曾经敬仰的机构的信心在一分一秒地消退时，只有你可以让他们平静下来。
当危机来袭时，我感到你将会明白自己必须扮演的角色。但人们知晓你，从来都不是因为你的速度。在一场危机中，每一分钟都很重要，我担心弹幕般的破坏性新闻会令你迷失方向。你当时可能必须随着情况的变化临场发挥、挑战法律界限、避免经济减速。你同样需要让职责各不相同的部门通力合作，掀起你的反击。挑战是巨大的，许多人认为你并不能胜任。
嗯，山姆大叔，你做到了。人们会在事后评判你的具体决定;这是肯定的。然而，就像存在战争迷雾一样，惊恐迷雾也同样存在，总体来说，你的做法相当有效。
我并不确切的明白你是如何做到这些。但随着事件的进展，我可以很好地观察，同时我还想指挥你的一些部队。在最灰暗的日子里，伯南克、保尔森、盖特纳以及希拉-拜尔掌握了情势的严重性，并且凭借勇气和速度采取了行动。虽然我从未给小布什投过票，但因为他的领导，我要给他很高的荣誉，即便国会故作姿态、吵吵嚷嚷。
山姆大叔，因为之前一些将我们带入这个糟糕境地的决定，尤其是未对房地产市场滋生的腐败采取行动，你被批判过。但是，你的批判者之中也没有几个能清楚地看懂这个问题。事实上，几乎所有国家都被房地产价格永远不会大幅下落的观点所迷惑。
这是一个全民的错觉。迅速增长的房价加强了此种错觉，也让几位警告危机的怀疑论者名声扫地。无论是关于郁金香还是关于互联网公司股票的错觉，都会制造泡沫。当泡沫破裂时，便制造出一波一波的问题，波及遥远的地区。这次的泡沫极为不同，全世界都可以感受到它的破裂。
所以，山姆大叔，我要再一次感谢你和你的帮助。很多时候，你铺张浪费、欺负弱者。有时，你简直让人发疯。但在这个非常的紧要关头，你脱险了;如果你没有脱险，现在的世界将会大不相同。
你感恩的侄子
沃伦
巴菲特昨天在《纽约时报》上发表了一份“致美国大叔的公开信”，感谢政府在金融危机的救助，否则今天的世界会大不相同，但是许多的评论对于巴菲特的这封信都不太感冒，甚至还有专栏作家模仿股神的口吻给美国政府写了一封信，不过不是感谢信。
【中国企业家】巴菲特昨天在《纽约时报》上发表了一份“致美国大叔的公开信”，感谢政府在金融危机的救助，否则今天的世界会大不相同，但是许多的评论对于巴菲特的这封信都不太感冒，有网友评论称：巴菲特是阴谋家，是披着羊皮的狼。也有巴菲特粉丝说，“他最近看上去有点儿昏头啊，索罗斯是不是对他动了什么手脚？要不然他怎么疯了呢？”
还有人疑问道，“这是巴菲特写的么？如果真是，他一定要冒很大的风险，我们金融系统的问题自从2008年开始就没有解决，估计危机又要来了。”
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