Thursday, October 28, 2004
Buffett
I just heard Warren Buffett speak for about an hour and a half. He took questions from students for the entire period, and mostly covered economic policy. The event was sponsored by HBS Democrats, hence the subject matter. Unfortunately I didn't take anything to write with so I didn't get everything, but here's what I did learn:
- If you want to have a long and happy marriage there is one crucial feature to look for in a potential spouse. It's not looks, or brains, or beauty... just low expectations.
- To be successful you should go into a career that you are excited about, and you should work for people you like. If you can't wait to get up in the morning and you're working for your hero, there's no way you won't be successful and make all the money you need.
- Americans as a whole should be more concerned with the current account deficit than the budget deficit. Sometime soon we are going to be shipping a significant portion of the GDP overseas just to service our trade debt.
- If you want to have an honest discussion with yourself about how the world should work, you should consider the following scenario. What if you were given the opportunity to set up the world to work any way you want. You can change taxes, trade policies, the health insurance system, whatever. The only catch is that you then have to participate in the ovarian lottery, and randomly draw a ticket that specifies your parents, country, wealth, intelligence, beauty, etc. Wouldn't you want a system that was good to you not just in the unlikely event that you are an intelligent, well-off American, but also if you are a poor, unintelligent resident of a 3rd world country? After all, you only have a small chance of becoming an American...
Anyway, he answered a lot of other questions and spoke about other topics, but that's what jumps out at me. He was very casual, very down to earth, and very funny.
