...[A]s you may remember, Buffett recently took a high-profile stake in Goldman Sachs.
[snip]
An investment in Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo is a bet that, first, the world economy won't really collapse, and second, the government won't get mad and take your money. There's no reason to believe that Warren Buffett, or anyone else, has any good way to assess the probability of those beliefs.
Buffett makes his money by buying low and selling high. He's patient and long-lived. If he bought Goldman Sachs he believes it is currently priced low and will in time be high. It's not very intelligent to look at data, draw the inevitable conclusion, and then state the opposite of what it tells you. You have to assume that Buffett suddenly abandoned a life-time practice and utterly ignored the revolving door between the government and Goldman Sachs. If anyone will come out of the New Depression successfully it will be Goldman Sachs.
It would be nice if McArdle ratcheted down the snooze factor in her work. I'm thrilled she's enjoying Chrysler's bankruptcy so much, but there are other interesting things going on as well.
She's definitely enjoying the Chrysler situation, but that is just the appetizer. McArdle is saving her Molly Ringwald dance for GM's bankruptcy.
ReplyDeleteHer contempt for the U.S. automakers--or at least their unionized workers--is boundless, isn't it? She really is cheering for these once great (and now just pretty good) companies to utterly fail just to reinforce her anti-collectivist mentality. It's beyond warped--it's pathological. In total contrast to her unfettered support of the banks that wrecked the economy. She's vile.
ReplyDeleteShe doesn't even think about the fact that keeping Americans employed during a recession is a worthy goal. Why should she? Her job seems safe, as long as David Bradley enjoys his WF Buckleyesque dinner parties with the world's elite.
ReplyDeleteMegan McArdle...what a lovely Irish name. Makes one think of a buxom lass with black black hair, white white skin, and blue blue eyes! Or- Titian hair, white white skin and blue blue eyes!
ReplyDeleteWhat ever McArgle-bargle looks like on the outside, inside is an echoing chamber of ugly.
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ReplyDeleteThe scary thing is that she's extremely typical, which is why I use her as an example. Someone with some brains and all the advantages should be able to understand more about the world, be able to show empathy and at least a little bit of impartial judgment. But like a lot of people she relies on easy, self-comforting lies that absolve her of responsibility and effort, while potentially harming others.
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