Buy American

Illustration by Brad Holland

In 2008, Mr. Warren Buffett, an investor and philanthropist, was named the richest man in the world with an esitmated worth of $62 billion according to Forbes, and $58 billion according to Yahoo. Bill Gates had previously held the position for 15 consecutive years.

Mr. Buffett is currently the Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., but his Omaha, Nebraska beginnings were far more humble. According to Wikipedia, he filed his first tax return at 13 years old and deducted his bicycle as a business expense for $35. As a freshman in high school, at 15 years old, he and a friend bought a used pinball machine for $25 and placed it in a barber shop. Within 3 months they had several more in different locations. I was not surprised to learn that Mr. Buffett still lives in the same house that he purchased for $31,500 when he was 27 years old. It is estimated to be valued at $700,000 today.

Mr. Buffett wrote an op-ed piece for the NY Times entitled "Buy American. I am" in which he offers "Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful." He's relating to the equities market, of course, but I think it translates to real estate investments easily. Further he speculates that likely inflation will accelerate declines in the value of cash, which he considers "a terrible long-term investment."

In other words, according to Mr. Buffett, now is a great time to buy. I know we've all heard this before and, looking back, wish we had, in fact, bought something. Well, let's do something about it this time before we get any older. In his opinion piece, Mr. Buffett quotes Wayne Gretzsky to illustrate this point. "I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been."

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