Warren Buffett is interviewed by Tom Brokaw, January 18, 2009, on Dateline NBC.
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Here is an excerpt from the transript:
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TOM BROKAW, NBC NEWS:
Last fall, Warren a pollster told me that the election was between hope and fear. When it comes to the economy, who's winning, hope or fear?
WARREN BUFFETT:
Well, right now fear is. I mean, you're seeing it everyplace. You saw it at-- in the sales of almost every item at-- at Christmas. There's a lot of fear throughout the country. Even-- even with people whose jobs are fine, and who have money in the bank. But they-- they're worried.
BROKAW:
I've been describing this as the domestic equivalent of war. Is that an overstatement?
BUFFETT:
Well, actually, in September I said-- this is an economic Pearl Harbor. I-- that was the time congress had made it in. It really is an economic Pearl Harbor. It-- the-- the country is facing something it hasn't faced since World War II.
And they're fearful about it. And they don't know quite what to do about it. And the point is-- and-- and it-- and temporarily it looks like we're losing. It has that-- that same aspect. Interestingly enough, we were losing for a while after Pearl Harbor. But the American people never doubted that we'd win. I mean, we had that attitude then. I think, right now, that they're sort of paralyzed.
BROKAW:
Is Barack Obama the right commander in chief for the economy?
BUFFETT:
He's the absolute right commander in chief. That-- you know, that's another thing the American people seem to do, occasionally, is that we elect people that are right for the times. You know, whether it was Lincoln, Roosevelt. And-- and I would say Obama-- you-- you couldn't have-- anybody better in charge.
BROKAW:
But why is he right for the times?
BUFFETT:
Well, he's-- he-- he's smart, he's got the right values, but he also-- he understands economics very well. He's cool. He's-- he's-- he's analytical. But then, when he gets it all thought through, and he's fast-- he can convey to American-- the American people what needs to be done. Not to expect miracles. That it's gonna take time. But that we're gonna get to the other end. And-- and I-- I-- I don't think there's anybody better for the job than-- than-- the president-elect.
BROKAW:
He often cites you as an advisor. And I know that you've been in touch with his economic team. But what often happens to somebody who gets elected to that office, particularly, they're more to you to tell you what they know than they are to listen. Does he listen?
BUFFETT:
He's a listener. I-- I first met him, maybe, four years ago, or something like that. He was a listener then, he's a listener now. But, on the other hand, he makes up his own mind. He will-- he will not be-- his team won't run him. He'll use his team, he'll use them very effectively. He'll synthesize, he'll-- he'll-- he'll analyze. But, in the end, it'll be his decision.
