All know of the famous investor, Warren Buffet. His father, while not so famous, was a man
with a character different than that of his son.
Howard Homan Buffett (August 13,
1903 – April 30, 1964) was an Omaha, Nebraska businessman, investor, and
four-term Republican United States Representative. He was the father of Warren
Buffett, the billionaire investor.
According to Warren Buffett
biographer Roger Lowenstein:
“Unshakably ethical, Howard
refused offers of junkets and even turned down a part of his pay. During his
first term, when congressional salary was raised from $10,000 to $12,500,
Howard left the extra money in the Capitol disbursement office, insisting that
he had been elected at the lower salary.” His wife said he considered only one
issue when deciding whether or not to vote for a bill: “Will this add to, or
subtract from, human liberty?”
Buffett and [Murray] Rothbard
corresponded for years, became friends, and commiserated with one another over
the drift toward war, imperialism, and centralization, which was aided and
abetted by the current leadership of the American right wing.
Corresponding with Rothbard!
Father Howard can be described as the Ron Paul of his day. Son Warren can be described as, well, not
that.
Let’s dig a bit further….
On military adventurism and
foreign policy:
Howard:
Buffett was a vocal critic of the
Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. Of the Truman Doctrine, he said:
"Our Christian ideals cannot be exported to other lands by dollars and
guns." Buffett was also "one
of the major voices in Congress opposed to the Korean adventure," and
"was convinced that the United States was largely responsible for the
eruption of conflict in Korea….”
Speaking on the floor of Congress,
he said of military interventionism that
“Even if it were desirable,
America is not strong enough to police the world by military force. If that
attempt is made, the blessings of liberty will be replaced by coercion and
tyranny at home….We cannot practice might and force abroad and retain freedom
at home. We cannot talk world cooperation and practice power politics.”
In the summer of 1962, he wrote
"an impassioned plea... for the abolition of the draft" in the New
Individualist Review. Buffett wrote:
When the American government conscripts a boy to go 10,000 miles to the jungles
of Asia without a declaration of war by Congress (as required by the
Constitution) what freedom is safe at home? Surely, profits of U.S. Steel or
your private property are not more sacred than a young man's right to life.
Warren:
The billionaire investor just
endorsed Hillary Clinton for President in 2016.
"I hope it's Hillary Clinton," Buffett, the fourth-richest man
in the world, told CNN on Wednesday. "I like what she believes in.”
Safe to say, Hillary does not believe in what Howard
believes in when it comes to foreign policy and the military….
On gold and a gold standard:
Howard:
Howard Buffett strongly supported
the gold standard because he believed it would limit the ability of government
to inflate the money supply and spend beyond its means.
“I warn you that politicians of
both parties will oppose the restoration of gold, although they may outwardly
seemingly favor it, unless you are willing to surrender your children and your
country to galloping inflation, war and slavery then this cause demands your
support. For if human liberty is to
survive in America, we must win the battle to restore honest money. There is no more important challenge facing us
than this issue -- the restoration of your freedom to secure gold in exchange
for the fruits of your labors.”
“[W]hen you recall that one of the
first moves by Lenin, Mussolini and Hitler was to outlaw individual ownership
of gold, you begin to sense that there may be some connection between money,
redeemable in gold, and the rare prize known as human liberty...Under such
conditions the individual citizen is deprived of freedom of movement. He is
prevented from laying away purchasing power for the future. He becomes
dependent upon the goodwill of the politicians for his daily bread. Unless he
lives on land that will sustain him, freedom for him does not exist."
Warren:
His son Warren Buffett is not an
advocate of the gold standard.
“It gets dug out in Africa or some
place. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to
stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be
scratching their head.”
“Gold is a way of going long on
fear, and it has been a pretty good way of going long on fear from time to
time. But you really have to hope people become more afraid in a year or two
years than they are now. And if they become more afraid you make money, if they
become less afraid you lose money, but the gold itself doesn’t produce
anything.”
Howard sees gold as a check on government and a tool for the
protection of freedom for the common man, an invaluable utility; Warren sees it
only as an investment of some sort, without utility.
On taxes and federal spending:
Howard:
Far away from Congress is the real
forgotten man, the taxpayer who foots the bill. He is in a different spot from
the tax-eater or the business that makes millions from spending schemes. He
cannot spend his time trying to oppose Federal expenditures. He has to earn his
own living and carry the burden of taxes as well... The taxpayer was completely
outmatched in such an unequal contest.
Warren:
Buffett has been an outspoken
advocate of raising taxes on the wealthy.
“I would suggest 30 percent of
taxable income between $1 million and $10 million, and 35 percent on amounts
above that.”
“We need to get rid of arrangements
like “carried interest” that enable income from labor to be magically converted
into capital gains. And it’s sickening that a Cayman Islands mail drop can be
central to tax maneuvering by wealthy individuals and corporations.”
“Our government’s goal should be to
bring in revenues of 18.5 percent of G.D.P. and spend about 21 percent of
G.D.P.”
The Buffett Rule is named after
American investor Warren Buffett, who publicly stated in early 2011 that he
disagreed with rich people, like himself, paying less in federal taxes, as a
portion of income, than the middle class, and voiced support for increased
income taxes on the wealthy.
Howard: less taxes, less spending. Warren: not that.
On fiat money:
Howard:
But first let me clear away a bit
of underbrush. I will not take time to review the history of paper money
experiments. So far as I can discover, paper money systems have always wound up
with collapse and economic chaos.
Warren:
Warren Buffett Looks to Make 70%
for Bailing Out Goldman Sachs
General Electric Co.’s (GE) gain of
more than 20 percent this year is validating Warren Buffett’s $3 billion wager
that the world’s largest maker of jet engines would rebound after the financial
crisis.
In recent Berkshire annual
meetings, Warren Buffett has praised Wells Fargo as one of his favorite
investments. It is ranked number one in
the U.S. banking industry in total market value ($176 billion), even though it
is only fourth largest by assets…. In 2008, it purchased Wachovia for $15
billion….
Expectations of a housing
construction rebound and mortgage demand have even given some reason to expect
that Wells Fargo may surprise on the upside for the remainder of 2012.
Of course, Buffett made preferred
share investments in Goldman and Bank of America during the height of the
crisis, but these were essentially super-safe loans that guaranteed a return
and did not reflect his common stock plays.
Following the results of the U.S.
Federal Reserve stress tests in March, it was many of Buffett’s investments
like Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp, and American Express, which led the way on
share buyback plans and dividend boosts. Wells Fargo boosted its dividend 83
percent and indicated accelerated buybacks to a program launched in 2011.
American Express unveiled a $5 billion buyback program of $5 billion and upped
its quarterly dividend. Meanwhile U.S. Bancorp boosted its dividend by 56
percent and targeted $3.3 billion in buybacks.
Howard sees fiat money as sowing the seeds of economic
chaos; Warren sees it as sowing the seeds for his investment cultivation.
Sources:
Dang, you were all over this 8 years ago. I'm seriously impressed! Though not at all surprised.
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