WarrenI'd like to start out by calling the meeting to order. I'm Warren Buffett, Chairman of the Board of Berkshire Hathaway, and I welcome you to this meeting. This hyper-kinetic fellow next to me is Charlie Munger, the vice chairman. There are times where we can't remember each other's name, but we have a lot of fun together.
QuestionerIn view of the Iraq war, consumer debt that's increasing, declining job growth, what would your view be about the investment future for the next day? for the next five to ten years.
WarrenThere's always problems in the future. There are always opportunities in the future. And in this country, the opportunities have won out over the problems over time. And I think they will continue to do so absent weapons of mass destruction, which is another question.
QuestionerWhat habit or habits have contributed most to your ability to continue learning and improving your investment decisions in a changing business and financial environment?
WarrenI think that takes a certain amount of what an old him a friend used to call uncommon sense. He used to say there is no common sense. When people say common sense, they mean uncommon sense. Yeah, we don't consider many stupid things. You know, I mean, we get rid of them fast. And in fact, people get irritated with us because they'll call us. And when they're in the middle of the first sentence, we'll just tell them, forget it. You know, and we don't, we can see it coming. We do not bring in compensation consultants. We don't have a human relations department. We don't have a human relations department. We don't have it. At the headquarters, as you could see, we don't have any human relations department. We don't have a legal department. We don't have a public relations department. We don't have an investor relations department. We don't have those things because they make life way more complicated. And everybody gets a vested interest in going to conferences and calling another consultants and it takes on a life of its own. I would rather throw a viper down my shirt front than hire a compensation consultant.
QuestionerI wondered if you could comment on the views of those people who have stated that because of so-called conflicts of interest, you should leave the board of Korgkagola.
WarrenI would say that whoever suggested that should do 500 setups. We like the idea, and we've encouraged the idea, of shareholders behaving like owners. The question is whether they, you know, can behave like intelligent owners.
[2:22]
CharlieAnd I think that in the last year or two, as they've sort of woken up, they've searched for checklists of one sort of another, or another to determine whether directors are appropriate in a given company or not. And frankly, a checklist are no substitute for thinking. I think it was Bertrand Russell who said most men would rather die than think many do. The cause of reform is hurt, not helped, when an activist makes an idiotic suggestion to be like the one that, that having Warren Buffett on the the board of the Coca-Cola company is contrary to the interests of the Coca-Cola company.
QuestionerMy general question is about how ethical concerns enter into your asset allocation decisions. So for example, I think there's some strong arguments that can be made that say classic Coke should never be part of anyone's diet.
CharlieI think it's a little crazy myself to say that it's terrible if people eat hamburgers or drink Coca-Cola or eat candy or anything like that because they're likely to gain. That is a perfectly optional decision. And who knows whether somebody has lived a happier life that lives to 75 and their overweight condition causes them to die a little sooner. They lived to 85 and lived on carrots and broccoli, you know, has lived a better life. I know which one I prefer.
QuestionerWhat is your opinion on the current state of U.S. immigration law as it applies to the employment of highly skilled permanent workers.
CharlieWe've certainly been a country characterized by lots of immigration, and whether that is responsible in any way for the incredible record of this country, I don't know, but I suspect that it was. My personal view is that I'm almost always glad to have very talented people come into the United States, and I'm almost never pleased when the very bottom of the mental barrel comes in.
QuestionerI read in a book that you prefer talking to young people about life and financial concepts because we still have time to implement them. Can you please share some of the concepts with us?
CharlieDon't get in debt. The game plays a lot easier if you're a little bit ahead of the game than if you're behind the game. And you want to develop a good character and good mental habits and you want to learn from your mistakes every single one as you go along. go along and of course you particularly want to avoid evil or seriously irrational people, particularly if they are attractive members of the opposite sex.