Warren Buffett to CNBC: U.S. Economy In "Shambles" .. No Signs of Recovery Yet

Wednesday, 24 Jun 2009
By: Alex Crippen
In a live interview on CNBC today, Warren Buffett said there has been little progress over the past few months in the "economic war" being fought by the country. "We haven't got the economy moving yet." While the economy is a "shambles" and likely to stay that way for some time, he remains optimistic there will eventually be a recovery over a period of years.
Buffett says the nation should concentrate on creating jobs.
Buffett also revealed that he had a cataract operation on his left eye about a month ago. He joked that he thought it might help him see "green shoots" for the economy, but so far he hasn't seen any hopeful signs. Taking a firm position in an ongoing debate in the financial markets, Buffett says he's not concerned at all about deflation, but does think inflation will be a problem in coming years. Despite his negative view on the economy, Buffett still believes the stock market is attractive "over the next 10 years" when compared to alternatives like Treasury bonds. Buffett endorsed Ben Bernanke's reappointment as Federal Reserve Chairman, saying "you couldn't do better." He also praised Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. Asked about how Apple handled Steve Jobs' liver transplant, Buffett said it is a "material fact" when the CEO of a company is facing major surgery. He thinks criticism of Apple over the matter is appropriate. Buffett repeated his criticism of "cap and trade" as a method to control pollution, saying it would be a huge, regressive tax.