berg80
Diamond Member
- Oct 28, 2017
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When asked about cost-cutting and so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Buffett said that controlling the government budget deficit is a problem that is ānever fully solved.ā
āWe are operating at a fiscal deficit now that is unsustainable over a very long period of time. We donāt know whether that means two years or 20 years, because thereās never been a country like the United States, but this is something that canāt go on forever,ā Buffett said.
While Buffett did not discuss DOGE specifically, he did say it would be a difficult but important job to cut the budget deficit.
āItās a job I donāt want, but itās a job I think should be done, and Congress does not seem to be doing it,ā Buffett said.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/03/war...athaway-annual-meeting-2025-live-updates.html
Warren Buffett needs no introduction. His bona fides are unimpeachable. We've heard predictions like his for so long they have somewhat lost their significance. That's a mistake.
As things stand now, under the best of times we are adding trillions to the national debt. A figure likely to be in excess of $40T after trump is done laying the nation to waste. DOGE isn't the answer by the way. It's largely been used as a politicized vehicle to strip out the nation's soul. It's real impact on the budget being negligible.
When the time comes, in two years or twenty, it will be an unfolding, global, economic calamity like the world has not seen. It will result in the dollar no longer being the world's reserve currency, an eventual collapse of the bond market, stock market, and the economy as a whole. Nations like Japan and China will stop buying our debt, or demand much higher rates of return, causing both an inflationary spiral and negative growth induced by higher interest rates. Pension payments to folks like my wife who were state or county employees will go much lower since those funds are sustained by investment returns in the markets. Social security payments, the backbone of financial security for millions of retired Americans and already due to decrease in 2035, will similarly be cut. The vast majority of people who have prepared for retirement with 401K accounts will see the value of those accounts shrink. The economy's contraction will be severe as consumer spending drops. Unemployment will rise markedly. The Bush recession of 2008 does not compare to the magnitude of what is to come.
Can something be done to head it off? I don't think so. Even if our elected officials had the political will to do something drastic it would not have the support of people (both Dems and Repubs) reliant on SS, Medicare, and Medicaid for their existence. When it comes, all the finger pointing and blame gaming won't matter. People will be too focused on what it will take to dig ourselves out of the hole we're in.
āWe are operating at a fiscal deficit now that is unsustainable over a very long period of time. We donāt know whether that means two years or 20 years, because thereās never been a country like the United States, but this is something that canāt go on forever,ā Buffett said.
While Buffett did not discuss DOGE specifically, he did say it would be a difficult but important job to cut the budget deficit.
āItās a job I donāt want, but itās a job I think should be done, and Congress does not seem to be doing it,ā Buffett said.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/03/war...athaway-annual-meeting-2025-live-updates.html
Warren Buffett needs no introduction. His bona fides are unimpeachable. We've heard predictions like his for so long they have somewhat lost their significance. That's a mistake.
As things stand now, under the best of times we are adding trillions to the national debt. A figure likely to be in excess of $40T after trump is done laying the nation to waste. DOGE isn't the answer by the way. It's largely been used as a politicized vehicle to strip out the nation's soul. It's real impact on the budget being negligible.
When the time comes, in two years or twenty, it will be an unfolding, global, economic calamity like the world has not seen. It will result in the dollar no longer being the world's reserve currency, an eventual collapse of the bond market, stock market, and the economy as a whole. Nations like Japan and China will stop buying our debt, or demand much higher rates of return, causing both an inflationary spiral and negative growth induced by higher interest rates. Pension payments to folks like my wife who were state or county employees will go much lower since those funds are sustained by investment returns in the markets. Social security payments, the backbone of financial security for millions of retired Americans and already due to decrease in 2035, will similarly be cut. The vast majority of people who have prepared for retirement with 401K accounts will see the value of those accounts shrink. The economy's contraction will be severe as consumer spending drops. Unemployment will rise markedly. The Bush recession of 2008 does not compare to the magnitude of what is to come.
Can something be done to head it off? I don't think so. Even if our elected officials had the political will to do something drastic it would not have the support of people (both Dems and Repubs) reliant on SS, Medicare, and Medicaid for their existence. When it comes, all the finger pointing and blame gaming won't matter. People will be too focused on what it will take to dig ourselves out of the hole we're in.
